Enemy Within
by CalypsoSunn
Summary: After Border is unexpectedly attacked by neighbors, the agency is in a rush to figure out who led the attack and what their future plans are. However, when Kikuchihara tells Miwa an agent may be on the enemy's side, to what lengths will Miwa go in order to uncover the truth? And will he figure things out before another attack occurs?
1. Surprise

It happened so unexpectedly, so no one was prepared. One moment, all was normal; those agents not on defense duty were training while others were simply hanging out. However, in an instant, everything turned to chaos.

Miwa had been observing his teammates, specifically Yoneya at the time, in their individual training when an explosion rocked through the building and knocked him off his feet. His head slammed against the floor, causing him to black out momentarily. His vision was blurry, but he could hear the sound of shouting from all around him. He got up, swaying and struggling to stay on his feet. As quickly as he could, he went to the window to see if Yoneya, had been hurt. However, the teen appeared to be unhurt, only confused. The two made eye contact, and Yoneya quickly exited the room to meet Miwa.

"What the hell just happened?" he asked as the two exited the room. Seeing as nothing in the area was destroyed, Shuji made a beeline for the stairs, thinking if anything had happened, it had probably occurred below them.

"No clue," he replied to his teammate, walking even more quickly as they reached the stairs. They hurried down, but as soon as they reached the bottom, the two stopped, shocked by what they saw.

Near the main entrance to Border, a huge hole gaped the wall. Fragments of the building were strewn all around the floor, and few agents were on the ground, unmoving amidst the destruction. Those unhurt were quickly moving to the destroyed area with shock on their faces as well.

Getting over his surprise, Miwa bolted out of the hole, hoping to see whatever had caused this explosion. However, not to his surprise, whatever had caused the destruction had escaped with no trace of evidence left behind. He looked around for several more moments before returning inside to see if the other agents were okay.

To his relief, only five agents were unconscious on the ground, and Arashiyama's squad was efficiently tending to them. Jun made eye contact with Miwa and gave a grim nod.

"What happened?" Shuji asked, moving over to the A rank agent.

"I don't know," Jun replied. "Something just tried to attack us, or maybe they were just trying to scare us. Either way, we're lucky more people weren't injured. These agents are lucky they weren't closer to the entrance. They could've been killed."

Miwa opened his mouth to replied, but at that moment, Kazama's squad entered the building through the hole, and Kido and Shinoda entered the room from another part of the building.

"It was neighbors," Kazama stated to the two team leaders and the commanders, trying to be quiet as more agents filled the room. "We tried to follow them, but they got away. There was at least three of them, but we don't know anything else.

"Kikuchihara," Shinoda started, "you didn't hear anything they said or anything that could be of use?"

"No, sorry," he said nonchalantly. However, Shuji picked up on something in his voice, something that sounded almost hesitant. Was he lying?

"Arashiyama, get all the A-rank leaders to the conference room as soon as possible," Kido stated, removing Miwa from his thoughts. "While we have a brief meeting, I want the rest of the A-ranks to go out and search for any information on who or what just attacked us."

Jun nodded and immediately ran off, pulling out his phone to begin contacting the other agents. Kazama's team and Arashiyama's grouped together and began discussing a plan. Kazama motioned to Shuji, indicating they should begin heading to the conference room. Miwa nodded, quickly looking back at Kikuchihara before heading off. The agent appeared to be acting as he normally did. So then why did Miwa get the sense he had lied to Shinoda? He shrugged it off, heading with Soya to the conference room. It was probably just his imagination. After all, the teen had no reason to lie to Shinoda.

The two made it to the conference room and waited in silence until the rest of the leaders walked in. Finally, once everyone was there, Kido began to speak.

"We don't have much information yet," he began, his face revealing no emotion. "However, we do know we were just attacked by neighbors. We don't know who they were, in what numbers they came, or why they did it. Therefore, we are going to need to stay on high alert until we can uncover more information. While this just happened, I'm going to have Shinoda create shifts for the A and B-rank teams to patrol the area and try to seek out more information. Any information anyone discovers must be reported to me. Is this understood?"

The team leaders all nodded in response, understanding the reasons behind acting quickly. Miwa himself knew if they waited this out, they would be less prepared for a future attack. No, they needed as much information as they could get now.

"Good. The rest of your teams are out right now looking for information. I am going to make an announcement to everyone in Border so there is less confusion. If you would all make sure there are no other injured agents, that would be of great help."

With that, he strode out of the room, and the team leaders all looked at each other before following him out the door.

Kazama walked next to Miwa, the two moving quickly down the hallway in silence. Miwa thought to ask Soya about Shiro but decided it would be better to wait until the chaos was sorted out. And if it was only his imagination, he wouldn't want to let more people know about his suspicions if they weren't true.

The two moved quickly yet efficiently through the building, encountering many confused agents but no injured ones. They stopped several times to explain what little information they had to other agents, but otherwise, they finished their rounds rather quickly.

"I'm going to go check up on my team," Kazama said. "I'll catch up with you and the others in a little bit."

Miwa nodded, and Kazama strode off quickly, leaving Shuji alone. He stood there for several moments, replaying the events from earlier in his head, thinking about his best course of action right now. He wanted to go hunt down whatever had caused the explosion, but the lack of information made it impossible. With a sigh, he decided to go find his team as well, figuring he would be of most use out with them searching for any information they could find. Trying to push his frustration aside, the leader ran off to join his team.


	2. Reluctance

"Anything?" Utagawa asked, startling Kikuchihara from his thoughts.

"Not yet," he replied, hoping he sounded as disinterested as he normally did. He was afraid he sounded preoccupied, but to his luck, his teammate hadn't noticed. Instead, Ryo just nodded.

"Alright, let's go check the next street over."

Shiro nodded, but before they could head over, a call came through their headsets.

"Kikuchihara, Utagawa," Kazama said, and the two paused to listen. "I'm heading over to your location now. Wait for me there so we can talk."

"Okay," the two said, and the line went silent.

Ryo began saying something, but Shiro wasn't paying attention. His mind went back to what happened earlier with Shinoda, and a he felt a pang of guilt go through himself again. He didn't want to lie, but he didn't see any other choice. He wasn't so sure about the information he had heard, and he didn't want to cause trouble if what he heard wasn't accurate. After all, why would a Border agent be working with neighbors to cause destruction to his own agency? Especially an A-rank agent. No, especially _that_ A-rank agent. What reasons would he have?

And that's why Shiro had to lie – he was positive he had somehow misunderstood what he had heard from the neighbors. There was no way _he_ would be plotting with the neighbors. No, he wouldn't say anything unless he was sure the information was right.

So basically, he probably would never say anything.

"Kikuchihara?" Utagawa asked, removing the brunette from his thoughts again.

"Huh?" he responded, realizing he missed everything his teammate just said.

Ryo frowned. "I said we should tell Kazama there's nothing here and that we don't think searching out here will produce any information."

Kikuchihara nodded. "Yeah, that's fine."

His teammate frowned. "You alright? You were really zoned out there for a few seconds."

"Huh?" he replied, hoping to sound confused by the statement. "Me? I'm fine, calm down."

Ryo rolled his eyes, a humored smile hinting on his face. He opened his mouth to reply but stopped. Kikuchihara turned to look where his teammate was, and he saw what the latter was looking at; Kazama was off in the distance, quickly making his way toward them. The two began walking toward their leader, meeting him halfway.

"Did you find out any new information?" Soya asked.

Utagawa shook his head. "No, we haven't, and neither have any of the other squads. Kazama-san, if I can be honest, I think we're wasting our time out here. I don't think we're going to find anything out by searching around town. Whoever planned this made sure to leave no evidence behind."

Soya sighed, running his hand through his hair. "No, you're right," he agreed. "I don't know what Kido was hoping to find, but it's obvious there won't be anything out here. Let's return back to base and regroup with the other teams, see if we can come up with anything."

"Ryo replied with an "okay" while Shiro simply nodded. Kazama turned on his heel, and the three began moving back to Border.

When the three entered Border, Soya motioned toward the upstairs lounge. "Let's head up there. I'll tell the other A-rank teams to meet up there when they're all ready."

Utagawa nodded, and Kazama and he began heading upstairs.

"I'll be right there," Shiro said, moving in the opposite direction. "I need to use the bathroom." And before waiting for a response, he walked directly there.

He pushed open the door, and seeing no other agents in there, he went over to the sink. He turned the faucet as cold as it could go and splashed his face with the water. He did this several times, hoping it would help to clear his head, but, not to his surprise, it didn't help. Frustrated, he turned the faucet off and grabbed a paper towel to dry off his face.

"Kikuchihara?" a voice asked behind him, causing the teen to freeze momentarily. However, he quickly recovered, hoping the person hadn't noticed anything. He turned around to see Miwa standing behind him, his face unreadable.

"Hey, Miwa," he said disinterestedly, throwing the paper towel away. He tried to exit the bathroom, but Shuji stopped him.

"Wait," the leader said, pausing momentarily as if hesitating. Shiro stopped, his eyebrow raised in question. Miwa looked away for a moment, then returned his gaze to the other. "Kikuchihara, when you were speaking to Shinoda earlier, you sounded…hesitant."

Shiro's stomach plunged, but he kept his face as straight as possible, not daring to say anything just yet. He waited for Miwa to get his thoughts together before he began speaking again.

"I don't want to accuse you of anything," he continued, "but did you actually hear something that could be of use?"

 _Damn,_ Kikuchihara thought, _how did he notice that?_

"Of course not," he replied, looking directly into Miwa's eyes, guilt filling his entire system with every word. "Why would I lie about that?"

Shuji stared at him without speaking for several moments, causing Shiro to feel extremely uncomfortable. _He knows something is going on,_ he thought, hoping his face still looked neutral and not worried. However, his face must have failed him, because Shuji wouldn't let him go.

"Kikuchihara, if you're covering something up or you have information that could help, you need to let someone know," he said firmly. "You can't cover it up, even if you're involved or you know someone who's involved."

"I'm not involved!" the teen retorted, surprised yet not surprised at the same time that Miwa would come up with an assumption like that.

"Then why are you lying?" he responded with narrowed eyebrows.

Shiro opened his mouth, but no words came out. How could he tell Miwa? If he didn't, that would only look suspicious on his part. But if he did tell, and the information he heard was wrong, it could cause serious problems within Border.

Suddenly, Shuji grabbed the brunette's arm, looking at him fiercely. "If you don't tell me what you're hiding, I'll bring you directly to commander Kido, and you can deal with the consequences he'll give you."

Shiro bit his lip, looking down at the ground. _Shit, now I have to tell him._

"Okay, fine, I'll tell you," he said quietly. "But you have to swear you will tell no one about this."

Miwa opened his mouth, about to protest, but the teen cut him off. "Please; you'll understand once I tell you."

The leader hesitated a moment before finally releasing Shiro's arm. "Fine," he relented, taking a step back. "Go ahead."

Kikuchihara paused, thinking over what he was going to say. He bit his lip, hoping Miwa would stay true to his word and not tell anyone. He didn't want to cause any rifts within Border if this information was leaked.

He took a quick breath and began speaking slowly. "I heard some people having a conversation after the explosion," he said quietly. "From how they looked and spoke, I assume they were neighbors. But anyways…" he paused, not daring to look at Miwa for this next part. "Th-they mentioned…an agent here at Border. One of them was explaining to the other they would have to wait for further instructions for the next part of their plan, and these instructions would come from this agent. From how it sounded, the neighbors made it seem as if this agent had organized the attack and is going to organize more in the future."

He looked at Miwa briefly before returning his gaze to the floor. He noticed the shock that now took over Shuji's face, but he continued talking before the other could interject. "I could have heard it wrong," he continued quickly. "They could've known someone was listening, so maybe they were trying to throw us off. Either way, I highly doubt what I heard was correct. There's just no way."

A silence engulfed the room, and Shiro kept his gaze to the floor, fearing how Miwa would react. He waited anxiously for a response from the older.

"Kikuchihara," Miwa responded finally in a deadly serious tone. "Who was the agent they spoke of?"

Shiro closed his eyes, knowing this would come out eventually.

"Tachikawa," he whispered, almost inaudible. "Tachikawa Kei."


	3. Fear of Being Right

"Tachikawa Kei."

Miwa thought he had known what it was like to be taken by surprise; after all, there had been numerous neighbor attacks that occurred with no warning. However, he realized that feeling of surprise was nothing compared to this.

Tachikawa, working with the neighbors to plot against Border? Why? Why would any agent want to plot against his own teammates? Shuji supposed if anyone were to do it, Kei would be a very likely person, but the question of _why_ still rang in his head. What would his motivation be for doing so?

"Miwa," Kikuchihara whispered, and he turned to look at the brunette. "Please, don't tell anyone."

 _Well of course I'm going to tell someone,_ was Miwa's first thought, but after looking at how scared Shiro looked, he immediately felt it was the wrong thing to do.

He sighed, turning away briefly. "I won't tell anyone," he replied softly. "But I'm going to look into this. And if I find anything that makes it look as if Tachikawa is involved, I am going to tell someone, okay?"

Kikuchihara nodded, looking as if he were defeated. Feeling bad, Miwa put his hand on the agent's shoulder.

"Hey, you aren't going to get in trouble, if that's what you're concerned about," he stated, trying his best to uplift Shiro's mood.

"I know," the brunette replied, as quiet as before. Miwa was about to speak again, but he was promptly cut off. "I need to go," Shiro said, and, without waiting for the leader to reply, briskly walked out of the bathroom, leaving Shuji all alone.

He stood there for several moments, trying to process the information he had just received. He tried thinking of Tachikawa's possible reasoning for teaming up with neighbors but couldn't think of any. Sighing in frustration, he walked over to the door, deciding he would question it later. What was more important was meeting up with his own team as well as the other teams to discuss what would happen now.

He pulled out his phone, seeing there was a new message from Kazama that was sent out to all the A-rank squads. He opened it up, seeing Soya wanted everyone to go to conference room 2. He slid his phone back in his pocket and made his way to the room.

When he entered, most of the squads had already arrived. Miwa made his way to an empty seat next to Yoneya, trying to see how everyone else was acting and feeling. For the most part, the other agents looked as they normally did when given a mission – serious and attentive. Miwa looked over at Tachikawa, but he appeared to be acting as he normally did. He was participating in the conversation around them, looking just as serious and skeptic as the others. Shuji then sneaked a quick look at Kikuchihara, noticing despite his attempt at looking disinterested, his nervousness showed if you looked hard enough for it. While all the other agents were talking to each other, the brunette remain quiet, staring at a point on the table.

"Alright, this should only take a few minutes," Kazama said, removing Miwa from his thoughts.

"Did any of the teams find any information that could be of use?" Soya asked, looking around the room. Shuji glanced briefly at Shiro, but the teen seemed to be trying to avoid his gaze.

"We couldn't find anything," Tachikawa responded. "And from what I heard from everyone else, no one could find anything either. Whoever did this was clearly careful to cover their tracks."

Nods of agreement followed his remarks. Miwa looked at Kei suspiciously, wondering if it was just his bias, or if Kei had immediately tried to dispel any hope of finding evidence. He seemed to jump pretty quickly to saying there was nothing to be found.

"Kazama nodded as if expecting that answer. "My team didn't have any success either. I don't believe we're going to get lucky by stumbling upon any information; we're going to have to do a lot of investigating if we want to figure out anything. I believe Commander Kido or Shinoda is going to come up with a plan to develop a reasonable course of action. Until then, we need to remain cautious and aware."

Kazama paused, looking around to everyone else. "Does anyone have anything else to say or add?" he asked after several moments.

Miwa looked around the room, but no one seemed as if they wanted to add to what had been said. All the agents appeared to be content with what had been mentioned. Shuji snuck another glance at Kei and noticed that for a brief instant, his face looked almost… annoyed.

"Alright," Soya said with a nod. "Everyone is dismissed. Thank you."

Miwa stood up with all the other agents and turned to his team. "It's been an eventful day," he said, looking to the three boys. "Why don't you guys go relax? You can either go home or hang out here, but we aren't doing any training today."

Narasaka looked at him with surprise. "Are you sure, Miwa?" he asked tentatively. "After what happened, maybe we should be doing something productive."

Shuji shook his head. "There's not much we can do as of now. Go rest now; that way, when we need to move, we'll be at our full potential."

The boys nodded, still surprised, but they decided not to question his orders. The three turned to exit the room, but before they left completely, Yoneya turned around.

"What are you going to do, Miwa?" he questioned. "Knowing you, you probably aren't going to take a break."

"Yeah," Miwa replied, looking away momentarily. "I want to do a little research on something before I head home." Yosuke raised a brow, and Miwa rolled his eyes. "Oh shutup," he said, causing the latter to crack a smile. "I won't be long. So go home and relax for a little while."

"Whatever you say," Yoneya replied in a sing-songy voice. "Just don't take too long, okay? Just because you're the leader, it doesn't mean you can't rest either."

With that, Yosuke left the room, leaving Shuji in the room with the remaining agents who were still lingering in the room. He stood there for several moments, trying to gather his thoughts on what to do next. He wanted to observe Tachikawa but didn't want to make it obvious. He frowned, trying to figure out a way to spy on the agent without his knowledge.

After several moments, he gave up and began to exit the room. However, as soon as he left, a thought occurred to him.

Maybe he couldn't directly be the one to spy on Tachikawa, but he knew someone who could help him out.

With that thought in mind, he ran off to find the agent who would hopefully be able to help him figure out what the hell was going on with Kei's involvement.


	4. Making Plans

Shiro walked down the hallway, hoping to head home so he could clear his head somewhat. After telling Miwa what he had overheard, his uneasiness had increased tenfold, and he hadn't been able to focus since. He couldn't tell if he was more nervous about Tachikawa actually working with neighbors or about others finding out his information. He knew the only way others would find out was if Shuji told anyone, so Shiro hoped the other would keep his word.

"Kikuchihara!" a voice called from behind him, and he froze, recognizing the voice. Slowly, he turned around and saw Miwa making his way toward him.

"I need to talk to you," the leader said quietly.

Shiro's stomach dropped. "Why?" he asked, not wanting to talk about Kei any longer.

"Can we go somewhere private?" Shuji replied instead of responding to his question.

The brunette looked away for a moment, considering telling the other no. However, instead of saying no, he decided he might as well talk to the leader. Miwa probably wouldn't just let this matter go, and Shiro figured maybe it would be good just to speak about it a little longer so it didn't eat away at himself.

He nodded to Miwa. "Where do you want to go?" he asked, trying to mask all the emotion in his voice.

Shuji took a brief moment to think. Then, "we can go to my team room. No one is there, and there won't be anyone around the area."

Kikuchihara nodded again, and the two began walking quickly to their destination. Even though Shiro figured he might feel somewhat better if he could talk about the issue, his uneasiness didn't leave him; in fact, he felt as if it were getting worse. As much as he didn't want to, he feared what Miwa would have to say. In all honesty, the teen just wanted to let the matter drop, but he got the feeling Shuji actually wanted to pursue it.

The two arrived to the room and entered. There was an empty table with chairs around it, but the two didn't use it; Miwa strode into the room but ended up standing in the center while Shiro stood uncomfortably by the closed door, now regretting his decision to agree to this meeting.

After waiting in silence for several moments, Shuji finally spoke up. "Obviously I can't just let what you told me go," he started, looking Kikuchihara directly in the eyes. "Even if you did misunderstand somehow, we can't just let it go; it could end up harming other people if we don't figure this out soon."

He paused as if waiting for Shiro to respond, but the brunette didn't respond. He had a bad feeling about what Shuji was about to say but wanted to hear the leader say it himself. He waited in silence, staring right back to Miwa until the other began to speak again.

"I need your ears, Kikuchihara," he finally said, and even though the teen knew it was coming, his stomach still plunged.

"I need you to listen in on Tachikawa as much as you can," he continued, then added, "if you're willing, of course. But I think it's necessary, even if the only information we obtain from doing so is he actually isn't involved. And if it turns out he is involved, we can take appropriate measures."

Kikuchihara stood in silence, trying to absorb what Miwa had suggested and think of his best course of action. He immediately did not want to go through with it; he didn't want Kei to catch him or become suspicious, but at the same time, if it could help protect Border, wouldn't it be best just to try and figure out what was going on?

He bit his lip, completely conflicted on his best course of action. So instead of agreeing to something, he decided to inquire more about what Shuji had in mind.

"What is it exactly you want me to do?" he asked quietly, looking at a point on the floor.

He saw the other shift as if surprised by his interest. "Well, if you could discreetly try to listen in on Tachikawa when he's alone or if he's on the phone or something, that way you can hear what he's doing or if he's talking to people he shouldn't be."

Shiro nodded slowly, realizing this probably would be beneficial but very risky. He would have to be very careful not to be seen by anyone, especially Kei, if this was going to work. This also meant he would have to be aware of where Kei was almost all of the time which could be difficult considering he had his own team he had to be with.

"Why don't you think about it for a little while," Miwa suggested, interrupting Shiro's thoughts. "I don't want to make you do anything, I just think it would probably be a good precaution to take in case he is involved."

The brunette sighed and looked up to Shuji. "No, you're right," he consented, wishing it wasn't the case. "I can try my best, but I can't guarantee I'll be able to find anything out."

Miwa nodded. "If he is involved, he will be very careful and discreet. However, he doesn't know anyone is on to him, so we can use that to our advantage."

Kikuchihara nodded, feeling nauseated and just wanting to leave already. He must have looked pretty unwell, because Miwa's gaze softened somewhat.

"We can talk more later," he said and nodded toward the door. "I think you could definitely use a break."

"Yeah, thanks, I'll see you later," the teen replied, walking out the door with his hands in his pockets.

 _What did I just get myself into,_ he thought as he began the walk home. _This isn't going to end well._


	5. Accomplices

Miwa walked in to Border the following day, and on the surface, everything appeared to be normal. Agents were doing their typical training while those assigned to defense duty were doing that. However, there was one extra B-rank team assigned to a new patrol; this patrol was around Border, making sure if there was an oncoming attack, the agency would not be taken by surprise. Today, Suwa Unit was on duty for this patrol.

Seeing as Kido did not have any more instructions or information for the A-rank teams, Shuji made his way to his team room, figuring his unit could do their typical training for the day before heading home. He jogged up the stairs and made his way to the room, opening the door to see Yoneya, Narasaka, Kodera, and Tsukimi already there. He gave a nod to everyone.

"How are you guys today?" he asked, going over to the table without taking a seat.

Narasaka shrugged. "We're fine," he replied nonchalantly. He then looked more carefully at Miwa. "Are you? You don't look like you slept at all."

Shuji ran a hand through his hair. "Yeah, I just couldn't sleep very well last night. I was just trying to sort things out. Obviously I didn't do a very good job of it."

Yoneya snorted. "Well yeah, we don't really know anything at the moment. But now that we're prepared, it's not like we have much to worry about."

Miwa nodded. "You're right," he said, knowing Yoneya was so wrong. Even if they had extra patrols going on, there was still the threat of an agent on the inside which no patrol could prevent from attacking.

"Yeah, I wouldn't worry too much," Kodera spoke up. "They might have caught us by surprise, but in the end, we're more organized and have better trained people. They won't be able to do anything with more serious damage."

He nodded again, part of him wishing he didn't actually know what he did regarding Kei; however, the other part of him knew that knowing this information would only benefit Border. The main thing that bothered him was that he knew this information but couldn't do anything about it until he and Shiro could actually confirm its validity. So until then, the only thing he could do was train with his team more like they did on a normal basis.

"Do you guys want to do some team simulations?" he asked everyone.

The group nodded, standing up. "Might as well," Yoneya said, stretching his arms over his head. He then brought his arms down and clapped them together. "Let's do this!"

Kikuchihara nervously stood around the corner from Tachikawa Unit's room. He was trying to find the best location to hide so no one would be able to see him and so he could still hear anything Kei was saying. He was about to round the corner when the door to the room opened. Not wanting to be seen, Shiro began walking, hoping it looked as if he was just passing by to whoever the agent was that was leaving the room.

However, the agent that left the room was Tachikawa, and he started walking in the opposite direction, alone. Kikuchihara waited, wondering if he could follow the agent without being noticed. Deciding to take the risk, he silently began to walk behind him, far enough so he wasn't noticeable but close enough to overhear anything he might say.

Kei walked out the entrance of Border, and Shiro followed, wondering why he was leaving so early. Unless his team had begun their training early, he shouldn't have been leaving yet.

Suddenly, Kikuchihara had a brilliant idea. Before walking out onto the street, he pulled out his trigger and transformed into his trion body. He then deployed a bagworm; this way, he could follow Tachikawa at a considerable distance without the other being able to see him. He moved quickly onto the street, not wanting to lose Kei already. The other was walking toward town, and Shiro hurriedly walked toward him.

Kei continued walking through town, and Shiro wondered the whole time where the agent was trying to go; as far as he knew, Tachikawa didn't live in this direction, so it wasn't like he was going home. Unless he was picking something up in town, there wasn't a reason he could think of as to why he would come into town.

Suddenly, Kei took a sharp turn down a side alley; if Kikuchihara hadn't been paying attention, he probably would have missed him. He rushed off toward the agent, having to close the distance between the two somewhat so he didn't lose him. Kei began taking turns here and there, and Shiro could tell he was trying to make it hard for anyone to find or follow him.

 _He knows what he's doing,_ he thought to himself, becoming less nervous and more curious with every step.

He continued following Kei for several more minutes before the other finally stopped. Shiro paused as well, stepping behind a corner so he could still see. At first, Kei just stood there, and Kikuchihara assumed he was probably waiting for someone to either show up or call him. He waited anxiously, and finally, after another minute or so, he heard the sound of something coming. He cocked his head, hearing footsteps coming from the opposite direction. He guessed it was two people arriving.

And he was right. From the path in front of him appeared two neighbors; one male and one female. They approached Tachikawa, nodding at him and bowing slightly. The teen's eyes widened in surprise. Neighbors, bowing to an agent of Border? Already, Shiro was sure that what he heard was indeed accurate.

"I believe we have completed the first task properly," the female said, looking directly into Tachikawa's eyes with deadly calm. "Border is now aware of our presence and has begun to spread out their forces. When shall we enact the second task?"

Normally, Kei was more of a laid back individual. However, Kikuchihara could tell he was all business today.

"We must wait at least a week or two," he replied, his voice completely serious. "They will be prepared if we try to attack any time within the next few days. We need to do it when the last incident is still on their minds, just not on the front."

The female nodded. "Do you have a particular date in mind?" she questioned.

"I've been thinking," he said. "I've thought about two or three possible dates, but I still need to consider the best one. If you give me tonight to think about it, I will contact you in the usual manner with the necessary information."

The female neighbor nodded again, and Tachikawa looked to the male.

"Hotaru, you've been quiet," Kei said, looking at the male curiously. "What is it?"

The male neighbor, Hotaru, looked up at Kei. "I'm not sure," he started, looking around slowly, "but I get the feeling something is near us. I get the sense, but I can't exactly detect what it is."

Tachikawa paused, and the teen shrank back behind the wall, even though he knew he was invisible. Did this neighbor have a side effect that could detect people, or was it more of a trion sensing ability? Or maybe it wasn't a side effect at all but rather just his sixth sense. Either way, Shiro immediately felt insecure with his bagworm and begun to question whether or not he should leave immediately.

Kei looked around for a moment then turned back to Hotaru. "Is it a person, or do you think it's just an animal?"

"It's definitely a person, and I don't think he or she is just walking by. Whoever it is, they're lingering around. I just can't figure out where."

 _Shit,_ Shiro thought, biting his lip. This neighbor definitely had some sort of side effect, and if he didn't get out of here quickly, the three might discover him. He was about to turn and run when he stopped himself.

 _This may be your only opportunity to get good information,_ he told himself, forcing him to remain where he was. _Just wait a few more seconds._

Kei began walking around a little bit, peeking around several corners looking for a presence. Frowning, he returned back to the two neighbors.

"I would say you're mistaken," he started, speaking to Hotaru, "but I don't believe that's the case. There probably is someone here, and if I could take a guess on who it is, it's most likely an agent from Border."

The two neighbors immediately stiffened, looking all around them.

"What if they heard our conversation?" the female asked, her voice still in the same calm tone as before.

Hotaru shook his head. "There's no way. If this person was in hearing range, it would be much easier to detect him or at least get a general area of where he or she is. Wherever this agent is, it's not possible for them to hear us."

Tachikawa nodded slightly, and Kikuchihara was afraid he didn't quite believe the neighbor. However, the agent didn't argue with Hotaru.

"Either way, it's probably best for us to leave now. I will be in contact with you two by tomorrow."

The neighbors nodded, and before Kikuchihara could react, the two ran off. He waited another brief moment, seeing what Kei was going to do. However, after standing for a minute, Tachikawa started walking back the way he came which was directly toward Shiro. Before Kei was right on top of him, he ran out from behind his corner and began running away, hoping to find Miwa to tell him this new information, also hoping Kei wouldn't realize he was the one who was spying on him.


	6. Moving Forward

Miwa had just walked out of the door of Border when a breathless Kikuchihara came running up to him.

"Miwa," he said, an urgency he had never seen before in the brunette's eyes, "I need to talk to you. Now."

Knowing Shiro was never this insistent, he nodded, motioning back to Border. "We can go back to my team room; everyone's gone, and there aren't many agents here anyways."

The two moved quickly up to the room and sat down at the table. Immediately, Kikuchihara started telling all that he had witnessed to Miwa, his voice much more calm than when he initially ran up to Miwa. However, despite his attempt at trying to wear his usual disinterested facial expression, concern still shone through.

Shuji sat forward, taking in all the information. So Tachikawa was working with at least two neighbors and were planning another attack within the next week or two. They still didn't know the motives behind the attacks, and they didn't know anything about the neighbors either.

"We can't tell Kido yet," Kikuchihara said, looking directly at Shuji. "We still don't know enough yet, and I need to at least get solid evidence before we tell someone."

Miwa opened his mouth, at first in disagreement, but he slowly realized the other was probably right. He sighed, running a hand through his hair, frustrated that they knew so much information yet still had so many gaps in it.

He looked back at Shiro. "What kind of evidence do you propose?" he asked. "Are you thinking audio?"

The teen nodded. "I can figure out when Tachikawa is going to contact the neighbors tomorrow, and I can use an audio recorder next time they meet up. I'll have to be more careful because I'll have to get closer, but if I use bagworm, I should be fine."

Miwa nodded, trying to think of any way that would be less risky. He thought of hooking up Shiro's auditory information to a computer, but that would require an operator, and Shuji didn't want to get any of them involved. No, using a recorder would probably be his best bet.

"I'll try to keep an eye on Kei tomorrow as well," Miwa said. "That way, if you need to be with your team, you won't be disappearing all the time. And if we miss his time of contacting them, I'm sure we can find out when he's meeting with them next."

The brunette nodded. "I might have a little extra time tomorrow because Kazama-san wants to do individual training, so as long as you can try to watch him when I'm doing that, I can cover the rest."

"That shouldn't be a problem," Shuji replied, feeling at least somewhat accomplished. If they could get actual audio of Tachikawa meeting with the neighbors and present it to Kido without Kei finding out, they could essentially stop any future plans to destroy Border from being created. The only problem was making sure Tachikawa didn't find out.

Shuji looked back at Kikuchihara and was about to say something else, but he stopped himself. He decided not to keep having the conversation with the brunette; it had been a long day, and he was sure the other probably wanted to head home. With a sigh, Miwa stood up.

"Why don't we call it a day, alright?" he said, giving a short nod to the other. "We both need our rest if we're going to figure anything else out tomorrow."

Shiro nodded, standing up as well, still looking slightly nervous. Shuji didn't want to make him keep talking about it though; he knew the brunette liked his privacy, and Miwa couldn't blame him, knowing he was the same. He figured neither of them would feel any better until the evidence was in Kido's hand; so until then, there wasn't much he could do to help ease the nerves and anxiety they both had.

The two silently began walking out of Border, hands in pockets. They left the main entrance and were about to start walking opposite directions toward their homes when Miwa paused, something suddenly coming to his mind.

"Hey, Kikuchihara," he said, and the other paused, raising an eyebrow. "I know you didn't want to do this at first, so.."

"Don't thank me," the brunette replied, cutting him off with a wave of the hand. "I probably would have ended up doing this anyways."

Miwa opened his mouth to reply but ended up shutting it. He could tell Shiro was lying but didn't want to bring it up. Instead, he nodded. "I'll see you tomorrow," he said.

"Yeah," the brunette replied, and the two went their separate ways.


	7. Trouble

Shiro walked quickly to Border after school, hoping to complete his individual training as soon as possible. He hadn't slept all that well last night, his mind not being able to stop thinking about his task for today. He wasn't concerned necessarily about trying to find Kei when he was contacting the neighbors, he was just more concerned with the fact Tachikawa now knew an agent was on to him, and Shiro was afraid Tachikawa knew it was he who had been spying on them. He just hoped Kei hadn't picked up on the whole, "out of hearing range thing," because if any agent was spying from out of range, Shiro would be the only one to do so as he was the only one with enhanced hearing.

He arrived at his team room, shaking the thoughts out of his head so he could focus on what he had to do at the moment. The rest of his unit was already there, so Shiro shrugged his bag from his shoulder onto the floor to get ready for training.

Kazama raised an eyebrow. "You seem eager to start your training," he commented, and the brunette cursed in his head, realizing too late he always took his time when it came to individual training.

"I wanted to finish as soon as possible so I can get home," he lied, trying to think of something reasonable to say. "I have a lot of homework I put off from earlier in the week that I should probably finish." There. That didn't sound too fishy, at least he hoped.

Soya nodded, apparently accepting his excuse. "Alright, then I'll let you go at it. You can go home when you complete the simulation, alright?"

The teen nodded and immediately entered the simulation room which was set in a wooded area with a heavy rain pouring down. He changed into his trion form and pulled out his trigger, and within seconds, trion soldiers started appearing in the room.

 _It's time to focus,_ he told himself, crouching into fighting stance. _The sooner you finish, the sooner you can focus on Tachikawa._

The first neighbor came up to him, and he quickly jumped up to slash down at the soldier. With one hit, the enemy was down, but several more came up to have their go at Shiro. Using his hearing ability, he focused on the soldiers in front of him while avoiding the ones behind him. Although some of the soldiers took more than one hit to take down, Kikuchihara was steadily taking them all down with minimal damage to himself.

After a while, the onslaught of neighbors was dwindling until the brunette had destroyed the last of them. With his last strike, the rain slowly stopped, and the room reverted back to its original layout. Shiro turned his trigger off, and he too reverted to his original form. Moving quickly, he exited the simulation room and went back to his team room.

Kazama gave him a nod. "Very efficient. I know you were in a rush, but next time try to focus on your surroundings rather than just what's around you. I know you were aware of the neighbors at your back, but if they were more powerful, they could've easily taken you down."

Kikuchihara nodded, hardly paying attention to what his team leader was saying as his mind was already elsewhere. Soya must have noticed too because he didn't elaborate on his points. Instead, he sighed, nodding toward the door. "Go get your homework done," he said. "I expect you to be completely focused tomorrow."

"I will," the brunette replied, grabbing his backpack and walking quickly out the door. "Bye," he called out as he turned left to go toward Tachikawa Unit's room. He rounded the corner, but before he could make it any further, he ran straight into someone.

"Sorry," he mumbled without looking up.

"Kikuchihara, what's the rush?" the person asked, and the brunette immediately stiffened.

Kei.

Slowly, he looked up, trying to look as disinterested as possible. "Rush?" he questioned, hoping his voice wasn't shaky. "Since when do I rush anywhere?"

Tachikawa laughed, and it appeared to Shiro he was acting as he normally did. So, maybe he didn't know he was the agent that was spying on him?

"That's a very true statement," he replied, a smile on his face. "Well, if you aren't in a rush, where are you going?"

Crap. Kikuchihara's thoughts flip-flopped again; he was now thinking maybe Kei did know. Or maybe he was just trying to narrow down who he thought it was. Either way, the entrance to Border was in the opposite direction of Tachikawa's team's room, so he couldn't use that as an excuse.

"Why do you care?" he replied instead, making sure his voice sounded lazy and annoyed.

Tachikawa laughed again. "Oh, Shiro, always so distrustful. I was only trying to make conversation after all."

He pat the brunette on the shoulder, sending chills down his spine. "Well, I'll be seeing you. Bye!" And with that, Tachikawa walked away, leaving Shiro alone in the hallway.

 _Crap,_ he thought, biting his lip. _What do I do now?_

He didn't know whether or not he should follow him; it was probably his best option, but if Kei noticed anyone was following him, his first instinct would be it was the brunette doing the spying. However, if Shiro let him go without following him, he could be missing important information being exchanged between Kei and the neighbors.

After debating it for several seconds, he pulled out his trigger and deployed bagworm before moving quickly after Tachikawa,

He found the agent quickly; once again, he was leaving Border and walking toward town. This time, however, he didn't go into any side streets; instead, he took a left turn and continued walking. Shiro followed, confused initially as to where he could be going. After several minutes, it became clear where his destination was; Tachikawa was going to the forest on the west side of the town.

He entered the woods, remaining on the path for several minutes before forking off to the left, making his own path. Leaves crunched under his feet, and Shiro cursed, forcing himself to walk slower so he didn't make any noise. Tachikawa slowly gained ground on him, but the brunette didn't let him out of his sight; and even if he were to escape his line of sight, Shiro knew he'd be able to hear the agent anyway.

The two continued walking for some time, and Shiro wondered if they would ever stop. However, his question was answered about a minute later when Kei finally stopped in an area heavily surrounded by dense trees. He stood there for several seconds until the same male and female neighbors emerged out of the brush.

 _So I must have missed his initial contact with them,_ Shiro thought, knowing if they were meeting here, Kei must have had to contact them earlier in order to establish this meeting place.

Hotaru and the female nodded at Kei who gave them a short nod back. "I'm going to keep this brief," the agent started. "Our next task should occur on Wednesday which will be ten days from now. I believe that will give us a sufficient amount of time to prepare, and it will ensure Border is not too heavily prepared."

The female nodded. "Would you prefer this task to occur at the same time as the previous?"

Kei nodded. "That is when the most agents will be at Border. It will be risky, but it will ensure we can create the maximum amount of disorder."

"Are there any other details we should be aware of?" Hotaru asked.

Tachikawa paused momentarily before shaking his head. "No. All the rest is the same as I told you previously. I have no reason for anything to change."

Hotaru nodded. "Then Usagi and I should be on our way now."

"Then I will be seeing you in ten days," Tachikawa responded. The neighbors nodded, and all three went their separate ways. Not wanting to get lost, Shiro waited until Kei walked by him so he could follow the agent out of the forest. He walked as silently as possible, trying to stay focused on getting out of the woods. However, he was having difficulty as his mind kept going back to what he just heard.

So they were planning something on Wednesday, ten days from now. They wanted to cause as much damage as possible. The question was, what were they planning on doing? They were so vague in their description, and there was no way Shiro could figure out their plan as they seemed to have settled it already.

The only thing he could do was tell Miwa, and hopefully they could alert Kido of the possible attack.

 _Shit,_ he thought, slowly realizing he hadn't even recorded anything he heard. He completely forgot to use the audio recorder. They were still at square one, having no solid evidence of Tachikawa's allegiance with the neighbors. He figured they could still tell Kido of the possible attack, but it still wouldn't solve the Kei issue.

Suddenly, something heavy barreled into Shiro's side, and he fell painfully to the ground. He bit his lip to keep from making any noise and tried to get out from whatever was on top of him. However, whatever it was got ahold of his trigger and quickly deactivated it, causing Kikuchihara to revert back to his original form.

"I got him," called out the person on top of him, and Shiro recognized the voice of Hotaru.

 _Shit,_ he thought, panicking. _How the hell did they find me?_

Leaves began crunching around them, and the brunette looked out to see a pair of boots at his face. Slowly, the person crouched down so he was eye level with Shiro, and his blood immediately turned to ice.

"So, it looks like I was right," Tachikawa said, his voice oddly cheerful, making the brunette even more nervous. "I figured if anyone had any sort of idea what I was up to, it would be you. Despite what others may think, you're pretty troublesome, aren't you, Kikuchihara?"

Hotaru yanked Shiro's hair back, forcing him into a kneeling stance so he was looking directly into Kei's eyes.

Tachikawa tsked, shaking his head. "See, if you just left me alone, you wouldn't be in this situation right now. Unfortunately, you know too much, so I can't just let you go. And it's such a shame."

Shiro struggled, but Hotaru grabbed his hair more forcefully. He clenched his teeth to stop himself from crying out, not wanting to show any weakness in front of them. However, he couldn't keep himself from panicking. What was Kei going to do?

Tachikawa sighed, continuing his speech. "I really did like you, Shiro. I'm sorry for doing this, but it's the only way."

Without warning, something sharp jabbed into the brunette's neck, and he gasped, an uncomfortable heat slowly filling his body. The needle was pulled out, and Hotaru released his hold on Shiro. He tried to stand up, but his vision quickly became blurred. He tried to cry out and call for help, but he couldn't make a sound. The last thing he was aware of was footsteps walking away before his world turned to darkness.


	8. Unexpected Turn of Events

Miwa waited anxiously in his team room for a reply from Kikuchihara. He had texted the agent last night to inquire about any information, but he hadn't replied. It was now the following afternoon, and Shuji still hadn't received a response. He tapped his foot anxiously against the floor as a bad feeling slowly began creeping through his system.

He contemplated going to Kazama to ask where Shiro was, but he thought it would look weird, considering he never really talked to the brunette. He couldn't really think of an excuse either to say as to why he needed the agent. The only reason he could think to say was that he needed to borrow him for a mock battle against one of his team members, but even that excuse was weak. However, at this point, he felt he didn't really have a choice. With a sigh, he stood up and began making his way to Kazama Unit's room.

He arrived outside the door and was about to enter when he heard tense voices from inside.

"No, he still hasn't responded," Utagawa said, and Miwa pressed his ear to the door in order to hear better.

"Well I have no idea as to why he would ditch school, ditch training, and not reply to us," Kazama said, sounding stressed.

"Maybe he's just sleeping?" Ryo suggested, trying to sound hopeful. "He did say he had a lot of homework to do, so maybe he was up late doing it."

Miwa heard pacing in the room, and he figured Soya was the one doing it. It stopped, and the leader began speaking again. "I highly doubt that. Mikami, can you track down his cell phone?"

"Of course," she replied, and a silence filled the room. Shuji waited, knowing it would take several moments for the system to track down his phone.

"Got it," Mikami said, and Miwa heard footsteps move in the direction of her voice. "It's coming from the woods on the west side of town. It's not on the main path though, so if you're going to find him, I'll have to guide you there."

"Why there?" Kazama mused aloud, voicing exactly what Miwa was thinking. What reason would he have for being over there? His house wasn't even in the direction of town, so he shouldn't have a reason for even being over there. The only reason Shuji could think of for Kikuchihara being over there was Tachikawa, and his stomach dropped, hoping nothing bad happened.

"Utagawa, come with me," Kazama said. "We're going there now."

Not wanting to be seen, Miwa was about to run down the hallway before the two exited, but he stopped, realizing he wanted to go with the two to see for himself what was going on. Thinking quickly, he backed up several feet and began walking, hoping it looked like he was just walking by.

It worked; when Ryo and Soya ran out the door, the two almost ran into Miwa. They stopped, and Shuji looked at them questioningly. "Is everything alright?" he asked, making himself look concerned.

"Have you seen Kikuchihara?" Kazama asked, not answering the question.

Shuji frowned, his stomach dropping even though he already knew the agent was missing. "No, I haven't seen him all day. Why?"

Kazama gave a short nod. "We haven't heard or seen from him all day. We're going to get him now."

"Where is he?" Shuji asked curiously.

"Mikami tracked his phone, and it's coming from the woods next to town."

Miwa frowned again. "The forest? That's rather odd."

Kazama nodded again. "I know. We should really get going though." With that, he and Utagawa turned around and were about to leave when Shuji stopped them again.

"I'll come with you," he said in a serious tone. "Not to sound pessimistic, but if he's there, you might want someone else with you, just in case."

Soya hesitated briefly before accepting the help. "Thank you. Let's go."

With that, the three ran out the entrance of Border and turned in the direction of town, not slowing their pace. Miwa could tell Ryo was very anxious, and even though Kazama tried to cover it up, Miwa knew he was concerned too. And he couldn't blame him; Shiro wasn't even his own teammate, but he couldn't help feeling worried. After all, what if something happened with the neighbors or Tachikawa, and that was the reason why Kikuchihara hadn't been seen or heard from all day?

They made it to the forest quickly, and Kazama slowed the three down a little bit so he could focus on the directions Mikami was giving him. Miwa and Utagawa began trailing behind Kazama, letting him lead the way. They began running through the forest and off the path, and with each step, Miwa grew more concerned. There was no reason Shiro would be this deep in the forest. Not unless he had been spying on Kei. And if he was, he shouldn't have been there for this long.

After several moments, Soya slowed down to a walk, and the other two followed suit.

"Mikami says he should be right around here," he said, maintaining his usual serious tone. However, Miwa could tell that underneath his serious tone, Soya was trying to mask his concern.

The three looked around for any sign of the brunette, and suddenly Ryo called from several feet away.

"Over here! Quickly!"

Shuji and Kazama raced over to Utagawa, and dread filled Miwa's stomach. Shiro lay sprawled on the ground, eyes closed and barely breathing. Soya quickly got down on his knees and felt for his pulse anyways, checking to see the strength of it.

"Mikami, send an ambulance to the main entrance to the forest now," he commanded as he pulled out his trigger, immediately transforming into his trion body. He effortlessly picked up the brunette and then looked to the other two.

"We need to get to the entrance quickly, so if I were you, I would take out your triggers."

Utagawa and Miwa nodded, still in shock over what they saw. They quickly obeyed, and the three began sprinting through the forest without speaking.

Guilt filled Miwa's body. It wasn't some random thing; it had to be Tachikawa who did this to Shiro. And Miwa had to blame himself for letting it happen; after all, he was the one who asked the brunette to help him spy on the agent. And now Kei figured it out and tried to take out Shiro. And at this point, Shuji was afraid he was going to succeed.

They arrived at the entrance, and the ambulance was already there waiting for them. Two medics rushed out to them, looking at the teen in Kazama's arms.

"Do you know what happened?" one asked as they all moved over toward the ambulance.

"No idea," he replied in a strained voice. "We found him just like this."

The medic nodded, and they placed the brunette in the back of the ambulance. One of the medics stayed with him, and the other shut the door and went back to the front of the car.

"You can meet us at the hospital, but we're going to need to figure out what happened first before we can treat him," the medic said. "Hopefully we can figure it out rather quickly."

Kazama nodded, and with that, the ambulance took off. The three stood there in silence for several moments, trying to soak in what had just happened.

Shiro looked dead. Miwa knew he wasn't, but he kept picturing his pale, limp form in his mind. He kept telling himself he wasn't dead, but he wasn't sure how long that would actually remain true.

"I'm going to meet them at the hospital," Soya said, shaking Miwa from his thoughts. "I can call you guys when they find anything out."

Shuji shook his head. "No, I'll come with you," he said. "You don't have to wait there alone."

"I'm coming too," Utagawa added. "He's my teammate after all."

Kazama looked as if he was about to argue, but he soon changed his mind. He nodded at the two, and without speaking, began moving quickly toward the hospital, the other two following just as closely behind.


	9. Variables

He felt like his entire body was burning from the inside out, but no matter how hard he tried to wake up, his body wouldn't let him; he couldn't move, couldn't speak, couldn't open his eyes. Shiro didn't even know where he was or what was going on; he had no awareness of anything but the pain lancing through his body. He tried thinking about what had happened but was having trouble keeping his line of thought. The only thing he could remember was Tachikawa in a wooded area, but his mind would become scrambled quickly after recalling this information.

And so he remained in this state of oblivion, having no sense of time or location, only waiting until he had the ability to open his eyes and escape the darkness he was engulfed in.

A doctor came up to Kazama, Utagawa, and Miwa as they waited anxiously for Kikuchihara's test results. The three stood up from where they were seated and met the doctor halfway.

The man nodded at them. "You three are his teammates, correct?" he asked, and they nodded in response. The doctor paused shortly as if preparing himself, then continued. "There were no marks on his body to indicate any sort of trauma, so we conducted several blood tests to see if any sort of drug was put into his body."

He paused again, and Miwa looked at him questioningly, getting the feeling something was off. The doctor straightened his coat and began speaking once again.

"We found something in his system, but we do not know what it is. There is no record of any sort of drug or chemical or whatever this is in any medical or chemical database, and we do not even know what this substance is composed of. Essentially, whatever this substance is, it does not exist on Earth."

Silence followed what the doctor said as the three agents soaked in the information they were told. It was obvious then that the substance in Shiro's body was from the neighborhood.

"Can we have a copy of his results?" Kazama asked the doctor.

The man frowned. "I cannot do that unless I get authority from the commander," he replied.

Kazama nodded and pulled out his phone, walking down the hallway; Miwa assumed he was calling the commander. What Soya wanted made sense; if they could analyze the substance themselves, they could figure out which neighborhood the substance was from; if they couldn't figure out the specific neighborhood, they could at least narrow down the choices. This would in turn help them figure out who was plotting against Border at the moment.

Kazama came back, holding his phone out to the doctor. "Commander Kido is on the phone," he said, and the doctor took the device, moving away several feet.

While the doctor spoke on the phone, Soya turned to the other two, looking specifically to Shuji. "You're on the same page as me regarding the tests, right?" he asked.

Miwa nodded, choosing his next words carefully so he didn't give away any of his knowledge of the attack. "If we can figure out where this substance came from, it might help us figure out more on the attack; that is, if we consider these two incidents related."

Kazama nodded. "I'm definitely thinking they're related; considering the timing in which neighboring worlds can attack, I don't believe this could've been done by different worlds. These events have to be correlated.

Shuji opened his mouth to respond, but the doctor came back at that moment, holding out the phone to Soya. He appeared to be somewhat flustered, and Miwa could only imagine what Kido said to him in order to get access to the blood tests.

"I will be right back with the results," the doctor said, hurrying off in the other direction. He was gone for all of thirty seconds before returning, handing the papers to Kazama. "Your commander is very eager to see those," he said. "He wants you to return immediately."

Soya nodded, turning to Miwa and handing him the papers. "You and Utagawa bring them back; I'm going to stay here in case he wakes up."

"I don't think that's necessary," the doctor spoke up, causing Kazama to turn to him, eyebrow raised in question. "He isn't going to wake up anytime soon. Whatever is in his system, it's designed to keep someone unconscious for a very long time. If I could take a guess, that thing will keep him out for at least a week, maybe more. Unless we figure out more about that substance, there's no way of knowing if or when he'll regain consciousness."

All three agents froze, and Miwa almost dropped the papers, cursing in his head. At least a week, or even more? If he had any doubts in his head, they were gone now; this had to be the work of Tachikawa and the neighbors he was working with. They must have been trying to silence Kikuchihara before he could tell anyone what he had found out. Which meant whatever he overheard, it must have been extremely important. Which also meant Shuji would have to figure out what this information was before it was too late.

"Thank you for your help," Kazama told the doctor stiffly, shaking Miwa from his thoughts. Soya turned sharply on his heel and began walking quickly toward the exit of the hospital. Shuji looked at Ryo briefly before the two followed the other agent.

"Kazama-san, are you okay?" Utagawa asked tentatively.

"Of course," he replied, staring straight ahead. "We just need to get back quickly to look over these results."

Ryo opened his mouth but quickly shut it, and the three continued walking in silence to Border. Miwa knew Soya was clearly worried about Kikuchihara, and he couldn't blame him; he was worried as well, and he wasn't even his teammate. But mixed in with his worry was anger, anger at Kei for doing this to someone he was supposed to be in alliance with. For all he knew, Kei could've killed Shiro by injecting him with this neighboring substance, and the agent didn't even care.

He had to figure out Kei's plans before something else happened and somebody else got hurt, and to do that, he would have to be extremely clever. He first had to focus on the test results and see if they could figure anything out from those; after that, he figured it would be that much easier to stop another one of their attacks.

 _You'll figure it out in time,_ he told himself as the three of them arrived at the entrance to Border. _Don't worry, nothing bad will happen._


	10. Night Travels

**Just wanted to say sorry for not updating in a long time; I've been pretty busy with classes and what not, but I hope to try and update at least once a week (but don't take my word for it) :)**

* * *

As soon as the three arrived at Border, they were told it would take at least the night to analyze the test results. Seeing their disappointed faces, the team told the agents to go home and get some rest, and they would work hard to have the analysis ready by tomorrow morning. With that, the three headed their separate ways.

Shuji hoped to get some sleep, but there was too much racing around on his mind, and he ended up just staring at the ceiling. After getting up to grab some water, he wandered back to his room, but this time he simply sat on the edge of his bed, rubbing his temples with his fingers.

He was beyond frustrated and didn't want to sit around doing nothing while Tachikawa was off plotting who knows what. Angrily, he stood up and grabbed his scarf, deciding to walk around and clear his head.

He paused on his way out, suddenly wondering if he should maybe walk by Kei's house and see if it could possibly help. He hesitated for several moments until he finally decided it wouldn't do any harm; he would either get lucky and catch the agent in the act, or Kei would be sleeping.

He pulled out his phone and quickly looked up Tachikawa's address, realizing it wasn't too far from his own house. He slid his phone back into his pocket and walked out the door, hoping he would find something of value when he arrived.

The walk took all of ten minutes, and Shuji was in front of Kei's house. Spite bubbled inside him, but he forced it down, knowing being angry wouldn't help him.

The lights were all off in his home; of course, it made sense seeing as it was around one in the morning. Miwa looked at his surroundings briefly before walking closer to the house. He looked in the windows for anything out of the ordinary but found nothing unusual. With a sigh, he stood back and prepared to leave when he heard a voice coming from down the road. He froze, recognizing the voice of Tachikwawa.

 _What was he doing out so late at night?_

Quickly recovering, Miwa went and hid several feet away on the side of an adjacent house, crouching down so he could see around the corner. Miwa frowned, noticing Tachikawa on the phone. As the agent got closer, Miwa saw his face was completely serious which was the complete opposite of what it looked like at Border.

"Now that he's taken care of," Tachikawa was saying as he neared his door, "I don't think we have to worry about anyone knowing about the plan. We can still carry through with it on the original date."

Shuji's blood boiled, realizing instantly who Kei was talking about. He held himself back, forcing himself to listen to the conversation and not jump out at Tachikawa.

The agent stood silently outside his door, listening to the voice on the other end of the line for several moments, his face contemplative.

"That may actually be a good idea," he said after several moments. "No, I agree. Yes, let's do that."

Tachikawa paused, listening for several more minutes before nodding his head. "Alright, I'll be ready."

With that, Kei hung up the phone and pulled out his keys, walking into his home. Shuji waited several more minutes before coming out from his hiding position and beginning to walk back toward his own house.

He put his hands in his pockets, thinking hard. If he meant his words, Miwa assumed Tachikawa was going to enact his plan very soon. The question was, what was he planning on doing? He grit his teeth, thinking about how much easier it would be if he knew Tachikawa's motives.

He tried to think logically about what Kei's next steps may be. He figured if he was going to do anything, it would probably have to do with Border; if that was what he had attacked originally, it wouldn't make sense to make an attack on ordinary citizens, especially since he hadn't actually done enough damage to Border. And if he was going to attack Border again, Shuji figured this time, he might go for real damage, both to the building and the agents.

Which brought him back to square one – how could he prevent the most damage if he didn't know when the attack was coming and what exactly they should be expecting? He knew as a last resort, he could consult Kido and tell him what he knew, but he also knew Kido had great faith in Tachikawa and would most likely not believe Miwa without solid evidence.

He made it to his door and shoved it open, highly frustrated. He had so much information yet didn't have anything that could actually help. For the umpteenth time, he wished whatever was in Kikuchihara would leave his system so the agent could wake up and warn everyone before it was too late.

He looked to the clock, noticing it was already two in the morning. With a sigh of frustration, he walked over to his couch in the living room, knowing it would be pointless to sleep. He turned on the television and put on some mindless show, deciding he would either stay up until it was time to go to Border or fall asleep like this. Either way, he only had to wait at least four more hours until, hopefully, he could figure out what was wrong with Shiro.


	11. Antidote

Miwa walked into Border that morning right at six, having gotten next to no sleep that night. He immediately went to the lab, and not to his surprise, Kazama was already there. The other was waiting outside the door and turned upon hearing Shuji. He nodded at the other.

"They are just finalizing things," he said, nodding toward the door, "but they should be done in a minute or two."

Shuji nodded. "Where's Utagawa?" he asked, noticing the absence of Soya's teammate.

"I told him to sleep in and then go to school," he replied. "As long as I'm here, I can tell him what they figured out later."

Miwa nodded again and was about to respond when the door opened. Aya, one of the analysists, walked out with several papers in hand, nodding to both the agents.

"Well, we have the results," she said, looking weary from a night of hard work. "The results are… Well, I guess they're neither good nor bad."

Upon seeing their confused faces, Aya nodded toward a conference room. "Let's go sit down in there so I can go over these."

They walked quickly into the room and took their seats. Aya flipped through the pages briefly before putting them down and looking to the two team leaders.

"So, what we discovered is the substance in agent Kikuchihara's system is something called 'triphonen' ; it's something that was developed on the neighboring planet Leoforio. Basically, from the knowledge we have so far and from the assumptions we made, triphonen is used to put people to sleep for indefinite periods of time. It isn't widely used on that planet, but we think it's mainly used for plots against specific individuals, not large groups. The only way for one to regain consciousness under this substance is to inject an antidote into their system which will react with the triphonen to neutralize its effects."

Aya paused, waiting to see if either agent had anything to say; however, Miwa and Kazama were speechless for several moments. Shuji sat there, thinking several things at once.

For one, this meant Tachikawa was allying with neighbors from Leoforio – the question was, why? Also, this antidote – was it something they could even obtain here on Earth?  
"What do you know about this antidote?" Kazama said, thinking along the same lines as Miwa.

Aya hesitated, looking down momentarily before returning eye contact. "Unfortunately, we believe the only antidote is another manmade substance from Leoforio. We could continue testing the triphonen to see if we can create our own antidote, but that could take months."

Another period of silence engulfed the room as the two agents took in this information. Miwa tried to keep a straight face, but on the inside, his mind was reeling. While he had more information on who was attacking, it didn't make much of a difference. Sure, it might help give more insight on possible weapons, but Miwa still didn't know when this attack would happen. He fisted his hand underneath the table, his frustration building yet again.

"I understand you have other priorities," Soya started, looking to Aya, "but if you could, it would be of great help if you and your team could try to develop an antidote when you have spare time."

Aya nodded. "Of course, no, that would be no problem. We will start right away."

"Thank you," Soya said, and he stood up. Miwa and Aya stood up as well, and the three exited the room.


	12. Awakening

It was later in the day when Kazama ran into Miwa's team's room. Seeing the look on Soya's face, Shuji immediately stood up, knowing something had happened.

"Kikuchihara's regained consciousness," he said quickly. "I'm going to the hospital now to see what his status is."

Miwa looked at him with confusion. Awake? He thought it was impossible to shake off the effects of the triphonen without an antidote.

"I'll go with you," he said, quickly grabbing his jacket and making his way out of the room.

The two walked quickly to the hospital, making it there in under ten minutes. When they got there, Miwa and Kazama rushed upstairs and into Kikuchihara's room, seeing Ryo already there. They gave brief nods before the two walked over to the bedside. Shiro looked up at the two with a tired gaze.

"Hi," he said, and Miwa noticed how fatigued the brunette sounded. He was still very pale and looked as if he hadn't slept in days. Shuji tried not to stare, but he couldn't help but feel very confused as to how the agent was even conscious right now.

"How are you feeling?" Kazama asked, putting his hands in his pockets.

Shiro shrugged. "Tired. Dizzy. Other than that, I'm okay."

Soya nodded, and there was silence for several moments. Miwa kept quiet as he got the sense Kazama was going to say something else.

And he was right. "Do you remember what happened to you?"

Shuji watched the brunette closely, but he didn't see any signs of hesitation; his face looked blank and was impossible to read.

"I don't really remember everything," he said slowly after several moments. "I'm pretty sure I was following neighbors that were planning another attack on Border, but after that, I don't remember anything else."

He stopped speaking, and Shuji could tell there was something else he was leaving out. Even if he did remember Tachikawa's involvement, this wasn't what he was leaving out; it was something else. He looked at the brunette loosely, but his face still gave away nothing.

"What did you find out from these neighbors?" Kazama asked. "Do you know who they are or any other details?"

"Kazama-san, maybe we shouldn't bombard him with questions just yet," Utawgawa said, stepping forward.

"No, it's fine," Shiro replied. "I don't know much, but I'm pretty sure they are planning an attack on Wednesday. I don't know how long I was out, but when I was listening to them, the attack was ten days from then. And as for the neighbors, I know nothing about them besides their names, and that the male, Hotaru, might have a side effect that can detect people or anything with trion. That's about it."

Soya nodded and excused himself from the room, pulling out his phone to call who Miwa assumed to be Kido. Now, it was only himself and Ryo in the room. Miwa wanted to ask Shiro if Kei actually took part in what happened but knew the teen wouldn't answer truthfully in front of his teammate. Therefore, he decided to talk about something else.

"A team of agents analyzed the substance injected into your system by these neighbors," he started, figuring he might as well catch Kikuchihara up. "They determined it's a substance called triphonen that is only made on Leoforio. It's meant to keep people unconscious until someone wants that individual to wake up. In other words, the only way to regain consciousness from this substance is to have an antidote injected into your system. And the only known antidote is exclusive to Leoforio."

He paused, giving Shiro a few moments to think over what Shuji had said. At first, his face remained blank; however, soon after, the slightest hint of confusion appeared.

"Kikuchihara," Miwa asked slowly, "do you have any idea how you managed to wake up?"

He opened his mouth but shut it quickly as if unsure of what to say. At this point, Miwa thought he was pretty good at telling when Shiro was holding something back because it was pretty obvious he was afraid or hesitant to say something. Shuji opened his mouth, but suddenly the brunette spoke up.

"I don't really know how," he said, more quiet than normal. "I can remember knowing I was unconscious. I mean, I knew I had to try to wake up, but my body wouldn't respond. It's hard to explain," he said quickly, looking toward the ground. He paused several moments before continuing. "Anyways, I didn't really have any sense of time, but I know I kept telling myself I had to wake up. The next thing I knew, I was here, in the hospital."

Shuji thought about what he had said, but his confusion didn't clear up in the slightest. Triphonen's effects couldn't be lifted without an antidote, so how could Shiro have woken up without one? He thought maybe Kei or one of the neighbors could have slipped it to him when no one was watching, but he didn't find that theory very likely. For one, why would they want him to wake up when he was the only one that was aware of their plans? He could ask to see security tapes just to make sure, but he still doubted this. So Kikuchihara wasn't given an antidote, what could it have been?

A movement from the brunette removed him from his thoughts. Shuji glanced over and saw Kikuchihara wince suddenly and put his fingertips to his forehead. However, he pulled them away quickly, and Shuji could tell he was trying to act like it didn't happen.

"You okay?" Ryo asked, noticing it as well.

"Huh?" Shiro replied, acting confused as to what his teammate was talking about. "I'm fine. I think I'm good to go home, actually. When can I get out of here?"

Miwa shared a glance at Utagawa. He figured Ryo was thinking the same thing, that Shiro seemed eager to get out of the hospital. Miwa couldn't blame him, but he also just woke up not too long ago.

"We can check with the doctors, but they might want you to stay a while just to monitor you," Ryo replied.

Shiro nodded. "Can we call them in then?"

Utagawa looked back to Shuji who gave a nod. "I'll go grab them," he said, quickly exiting the room.

On his way out, Shuji ran into Kazama. "Miwa," he said, pulling him to the side. "I just spoke with Kido. He's taking appropriate measures to deal with the planned attack; he's going to give us more information when we're all back at Border later. And with regards to Kikuchihara," he started, then paused for a brief moment. "he checked the security cameras of the hospital, and no one entered his room besides nurses during the time he was there. There was no possible way he could have been given an antidote."

Silence followed as Miwa considered what he had said. What Kazama just said only confirmed what Shuji already guessed to be true. So, now they were all in the same position, wondering how the brunette had woken up.

"I was going to get a doctor to see when he could go home," Miwa responded. "If he can go to Border, maybe we can see how he is there."

Kazama nodded. "That's fine. I'm going to go back in there, see if he remembers anything else."

Miwa nodded, and the two went their separate ways.


	13. Unusual Circumstances

"This wasn't supposed to happen, Seraphine," Tachikawa hissed to the neighbor who stood calmly in front of him, Hotaru right by her side. "You said he wouldn't regain consciousness, but Kido got word he's indeed awake. Do you know what this means?!"

"Yes, we may have to change our plans a little bit," she replied, remaining calm.

"A bit?" he exploded. "And what if Shiro slips out that I was the one involved in this, huh? What then?"

"Even if Border does find out, it doesn't change anything," she said. "We can enact our plan sooner so they don't have time to react. And as for the boy, we don't have to worry about him for much longer."

"And why's that?" Kei asked, still steaming.

"Some individuals with high enough trion levels are able to fight off the triphonen initially," she explained. "However, since the substance is still in the system, the trion cannot combat the triphonen for long, and after that, the body will quickly begin rejecting the substance, and the body will quickly begin to shut down. This process shouldn't take more than a couple days, considering his own levels of trion. It's probably already starting now."

Tachikawa was silent for several moments, thinking this over. Then, in a relatively more calm tone, "So we get Kikuchihara out of the way, but that still may be too late. Border might find out I'm involved before we have the chance to attack, and that could jeopardize our success of the mission."

"Then let's attack tomorrow," Seraphine replied indifferently. "It's not like we aren't prepared. Border may be a bit more prepared, but it doesn't matter. We can still accomplish what we want."

Tachikawa was silent again as he thought this new plan over.

"Alright," he finally said, nodding. "Same time, same exact plan, just tomorrow."

Seraphine nodded back, and after final confirmation, left with Hotaru, leaving Tachikawa alone.

He ran his hand through his hair, feeling so tense at the moment. Everything was running so smoothly until Kikuchihara had gotten involved, and now that the triphonen didn't actually do its job, it made things ten times more complicated. He sighed, beginning to walk back toward his home.

He hoped if they attacked this quickly, it wouldn't give Border any time to figure out his involvement. Of course, this was contingent on Shiro not telling them anything, but he highly doubted the teen would keep his mouth shut. He knew Border would find out at some point which was okay with him, but he didn't think it would have happened this quickly.

Oh well, he thought. It was going to happen anyway. Might as well let it happen now.

Kikuchihara walked into Border late in the evening with Kazama and Miwa several hours after he regained consciousness. While he just wanted to leave, the doctors made him stay so they could run a few tests. After that, he was all good to go. He would have preferred to just go home, but Kazama insisted on having his blood tested at Border with their technology.

The walk to Border was awkward, to say the least. Shiro could feel the tension in the air, but he couldn't blame Kazama or Miwa for that. He knew they were suspicious as to how he regained consciousness, and in all honesty, he felt the same way himself. The tests the doctors ran indicated the substance was still in his system; so if that was the case, how was he up and about already?

He winced as a sharp pain pulsed through his head. It wasn't the first time; ever since regaining consciousness, he was having occasional but brief pain piercing his head, but he assumed it had to do with the triphonen still being in his system. He ignored it the best he could in hopes no one would notice anything out of the ordinary. Well, anything more out of the ordinary than his situation already was.

The building was slowly emptying out as agents headed home for the night. The three went against the flow of people and up the stairs to the labs, where they met with Aya once again.

"Hello," she said, seemingly nervous. She nodded at Shiro. "Are you ready? This shouldn't take too long."

"Yeah," he replied, trying to sound indifferent. However, he actually was curious to see if Aya and her team of analysists could figure anything out. He just didn't want to appear that way.

She brought him into a room and had him sit down while she grabbed a small collection tube and needle. Aya gave him a small smile.

"I'm just going to need to put this in your arm," she explained, taking his left arm and stretching it out on the arm of the chair. "It might pinch, but you'll be okay."

He nodded, and she stuck the needle into the crook of his elbow. Blood began flowing into the tube, and Shiro relaxed, leaning back into the chair.

However, after several moments, his body began to heat up, reminding him of when he was unconscious. He bit his lip, wondering if he should ask Aya if this was normal. He kept his mouth shut, figuring this was just the triphonen. Besides, he didn't want to worry her.

The heat in his body slowly increased until it was on the border between being uncomfortable and painful.

Hurry up Aya, he thought, hoping this would stop once she removed the needle.

It was about a minute later when she removed the needle, causing Shiro to inwardly sigh in relief. However, much to his dismay, the heat in his body didn't go away; it stopped growing momentarily, but he could still feel it.

"Okay, you're all set!" Aya said, smiling again. "I'll let you know if we discover anything else."

He nodded, not trusting himself to speak, and got up stiffly. However, as soon as he took a step, he suddenly collapsed as his legs gave out from underneath him. He heard Aya shriek his name from above him, but everything was spinning around him, his body felt too hot, his head was suddenly pounding, and he lost focus of everything else.

He felt arms grabbing at him, but when he looked up, he couldn't distinguish the faces. He closed his eyes, trying to stop the dizziness and the pulsing in his head.

Stop, he yelled in his head as he clenched his teeth. Just go away!

Almost as if his body was listening to his thoughts, everything slowly began dying down in his body until he finally regained awareness of his surroundings. He opened his eyes, realizing he was seated against the wall surrounded by Aya, Kazama, and Miwa, all wearing concerned looks on their faces.

"Kikuchihara, are you okay?" Kazama asked, looking at the brunette with a look of complete concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he replied shakily, still feeling the remnants of a headache. He tried to stand up, but Soya forced him to remain seated.

"Stay where you are," he said. "You just collapsed for no reason. Just wait a couple minutes, make sure you feel fine, before you actually get up."

"I'm fine, Kazama-san," he said, forcing his leader's arms away from him as he stood up before any of them could react. He wobbled briefly but quickly regained his stance. "See? Fine."

"You aren't fine," Kazama retorted. "Whatever the hell that just happened isn't normal. You need to take it easy."

"Okay, then I'll go home and rest," the brunette replied with a shrug. Then, seeing Kazama's look, continued with, "You don't expect me to stay here overnight while they analyze my blood, do you?"

Soya opened his mouth to reply, but Aya suddenly spoke up. "No, he's right. This will take some time, so he should rest up at home."

Kazama looked at her in disbelief, and Shiro could tell he didn't appreciate her telling him he was wrong. However, instead of arguing, Soya sighed, placing his hands in his pockets.

"Fine, you can go home. But as soon as Aya tells me your results are in, you're coming straight here, understand?"

Kikuchihara rolled his eyes. "Yes, of course Kazama-san."

His leader nodded his head. "Fine. I'm going to walk you home just in case something happens again."

"I'll be fine, you don't need to do that," he retorted. However, he was actually afraid something could happen on his walk home, but he just didn't want anyone to see again and freak out. It scared him, but he didn't want to make it such a big deal either.

"No, I'm going," Kazama said, already walking out of the room. He paused in the doorway, looking back. "Are you coming or not?"

The brunette sighed, his stomach rolling with nerves. "Yes, I'm coming."


	14. Second Wave

Miwa walked into Border the following afternoon, noticing upon observation how things had appeared to return to normal. It had been five days since the initial attack, and it seemed most of the agents had moved on at this point; Miwa had no doubt they would be prepared for another attack, but it wasn't on the forefront of their minds now. for the briefest moment, he envied these agents; they didn't know anything about an agent's involvement in the attack and his plans for something else. He couldn't blame them though; the only reason he knew was because he had to be nosey and get in Kikuchihara's business.

His stomach twinged at the thought of this agent, thinking of the previous day's events. He made a beeline to Kazama's team's room, hoping Shiro was there.

He arrived to the room and opened the door, glad to see the whole team there. They all greeted him as he remained standing by the door.

"How are you today, Kikuchihara?" he asked.

"I'm fine," he stated, looking disinterestedly at the table.

Miwa looked at him, knowing he was lying. Unless he was just very observant, the brunette appeared much more pale than usual, and he could see a slight tremor in his body. He glanced at Kazama briefly, and the two shared a knowing glance; they knew the teen was lying. From how it appeared to Shuji, Soya already tried talking to Shiro but hadn't gotten anywhere.

Figuring he couldn't do anything either, he simply nodded. "That's good to hear," he replied. "Well, I'm going to go with my team, but let me know if anything happens, alright?"

He looked at both Kazama and Kikuchihara; Soya nodded while the brunette gave no response. Satisfied enough, he left the room and moved down the hallway, going to grab a coffee before heading over to his team. He was almost down the stairs when the alarms started blaring, stopping him dead in his tracks.

"Attention all agents," a voice said over the intercom, "we have detected a neighbor warship entering the area. All A and B rank agents, please gather into your teams and listen for further instructions from Commander Kido. That is all."

 _Seriously?_ he thought to himself, knowing the only ship this could be was that of Tachikawa and his allies. He turned and began running up the stairs, grateful they at least caught attention of the ship before it had actually attacked - this would give them at least a little bit of time to prepare.

He hardly finished the thought when a loud noise tore through the building, followed by several screams. No, the ship couldn't have gotten here already; they just got the warning. How was it possible?

Another loud noise sounded, and Miwa could tell it was a little bit closer to him. Pulling out his trigger, he ran toward the sound, preparing himself for the damage that would be there.

He turned down a hallway and saw some kind of projectile stuck in the wall. Pieces of the wall and ceiling littered the floor as well as several agents who appeared to be unconscious. Shuji could see flames begin to spread around the area, and he cursed, running to find an extinguisher before they could get out of control. Suddenly, another shock went through the building, almost knocking the agent to his feet, and he could hear something loud crashing down onto the floor above him.

He saw another agent in his trion form pass by, and he grabbed him, passing off the fire extinguisher. "Go put out the flames on the second floor and make sure any unconscious agents are out of the way," he commanded, bolting off without waiting to hear a response.

"Yo, Miwa, where are you?" he heard Yoneya ask through their communicators.

"I'm heading up to the third floor," he replied quickly. "Have you and the rest of the team meet me up there."

"Will do," Yoneya responded, and the communicator went dead. Shuji made it upstairs, immediately seeing destruction all around. The neighbors had shot several weapons into the walls, causing wreckage to litter the entire floor. However, the wreckage wasn't the worst part; the neighbors had attacked the most populated part of the building at that time, so many agents lay on the floor, both conscious and unconscious, and Miwa could tell there were several with severe injuries.

"Yoneya, call medics up to the third floor," he ordered. "Tell them to get up here immediately."

Sensing his leader's seriousness, Yoneya didn't bother with a light tone. "Of course, I'll do that now."

Shuji was about to go help out some of the people when he heard another crash in the building. He bit his lip, unsure of where he should go. However, after several moments of hesitation, he went in the direction of the crash, figuring he should try to catch the neighbors or Tachikawa or someone to at least slow down or stop the attacks.

"Mikami, can you tell me where this ship is?" he asked the operator.

"Keep heading in the direction you're going," she replied. "Right now, it's located at the end of that hallway on the east side. It's stationary at the moment, so if you're planning on doing something, you should hurry."

He picked up his pace, praying the ship wouldn't move by the time he reached its location. He readied his trigger, preparing to shoot lead bullets if he saw the enemy. Reaching the end of the hallway, he held up the trigger.

The ship was preparing to fire another missile, but Miwa was one step ahead. He shot at the missile, causing it to explode in mid-air. He waited for another, figuring the neighbors wouldn't just stop, and he was right. .They quickly loaded another, but Shuji shot it down before they had a chance to attack.

He was now close enough to see a man and a woman through the window of the ship, and the two looked very frustrated; if the situation wasn't so dire, he would've laughed. He could see the woman yelling at the man, and it looked like they were going to try and move the ship. Not wanting them to get away, Miwa shot a ball of trion at the side of the ship, causing a good sized hole to form in its side. He then quickly launched himself out the window and into the ship before the two neighbors could react.

Quickly standing up, he shot several lead bullets into the two of them so they were unable to move. The female shouted at him, continuing to try and move even though it was impossible. Ignoring them momentarily, Miwa grabbed the controls for the ship and quickly but gently lowered it down to the ground.

"Yoneya, I need some agents down to the warship quickly. I have two neighbors on this ship, and I need people to take them into custody."

"No problem. Sending people now," Yoneya replied, and the line went dead.

Shuji then turned to the two neighbors. The female was giving him a death glare while the man was staring off at something else, seemingly unpreoccupied. He walked closer to them until he was standing right in front of the female. He bent down until he was at eye level with her.

"You will tell us all of your plans," he began, calmly. "And you will tell us what you did to our agent, the one you injected with the triphonen."

She snorted. "Nice try, agent," she replied harshly, "but you aren't getting anything out of us."

Shuji opened his mouth to reply but was cut off by Arashiyama's team walking into the ship. He made eye contact with Jun who nodded at him.

"Ready to bring them in?" Jun asked, and Miwa nodded, grabbing some rope to bound the female's wrist before yanking her up, causing her to grunt with his not-so-careful gesture. He began shoving her forward when a voice came through his speaker.

"Miwa, it's Kazama."

Shuji continued moving, but his stomach twinged. "What's going on?" he replied, figuring from the tone of the latter's voice that something wasn't right.

"Kikuchihara is down, and from the looks of it, it's not good. I'm with him in the infirmary right now and some of the doctors are looking at him, but so far nothing is working."

Miwa hesitated briefly, and he noticed the female look at him with a smug look.

"Something wrong?" she asked, a smirk on her face.

The agent shoved her forward, quickening his pace. "I'm on my way now."


	15. Making Progress

Kikuchihara was running down the hallway toward a group of agents that appeared to be injured from a blast from the warship when he felt a blinding pain in his head. He stumbled and placed his hand against a wall for support, letting out a harsh breath. While he had felt like complete shit earlier, the pain throughout his body suddenly increased tenfold, and he quickly fell onto his hands and knees, gasping for breath that he couldn't seem to find. His vision was swimming, and he quickly forgot about the injured agents as the pain began to consume him. He was aware of himself finally falling all the way to the floor, but he wasn't aware of anything else happening around him.

He lay on the floor, shaking and trying to control his breathing but couldn't seem to do anything to stop it. He squeezed his eyes shut and heard a cry of pain off in the distance but was unable to tell if it was him or another agent who made the noise. The pain in his body slowly began to change into a burning sensation, and he bit his lip, trying his hardest to not cry out.

He didn't know how long it took, but at some point he completely lost all sense of time and his surroundings. He could feel hands grabbing him and lifting him from the floor, but he didn't know if agents were helping him or if he was hallucinating.

He was placed down somewhere some time later and could sense motion around him. He felt a sharp jab in his arm, and he let out a gasp. However, slowly he regained a bit of his senses and could at least tell there were agents and what he thought were doctors surrounding him. They looked to be moving quickly, grabbing different substances and passing them from person to person.

A face appeared before him, and he was almost positive it was Kazama. His mouth was moving, but Shiro couldn't distinguish the words coming from them. Looking pained, Soya moved out of his vision, and a doctor took over his place. Almost instantly, the brunette felt an almost acidic burning starting from his arm, and he heard himself let out a sharp cry of pain. Immediately, the doctors began moving around again, grabbing something else.

The burning went away but several moments later was replaced with a stabbing pain in his stomach. The shaking in his body intensified, and he suddenly felt as if he was suffocating. Everyone in the room began scrambling around again, but Shiro soon felt himself losing consciousness. He was aware of what he thought was shouting all around him before he completely blacked out.

Miwa ran into the infirmary to see several doctors and Kazama surrounding an unconscious Shiro. The doctors were discussing their options for other things to try, but from the looks of it, Miwa could tell they were doubting anything would work at this point.

Soya noticed Shuji, and he quickly strode over to him. He put his hands in his pockets. "We brought him in here, and it was pretty bad," he began, and Miwa could hear the stress in his voice. "He wouldn't stop shaking, and he was struggling to breathe. The doctors tried putting painkillers and some other antibiotics into his system, but it only seemed to make it worse. He finally just passed out, and I don't know whether that's a good or bad thing." Kazama ran a hand through his hair, clearly more panicked than he would ever admit.

"Well, we caught the two neighbors who I believe are working with Tachikawa, so hopefully they'll be able to tell us how to fix it." He placed a hand on Soya's shoulder, feeling awkward as he wasn't the type to comfort someone else. "Don't worry," he said, trying to sound assuring, "he'll be fine."

Kazama nodded but didn't reply. Miwa could tell he was holding a lot in, but he didn't pressure the leader to say anything; after all, he knew he held a lot in and hated when people pried into his business.

Shuji walked over to Kikuchihara's bedside and looked down at the teen. A sheen of sweat covered his forehead, and besides two very deep red spots on his cheeks, he was deathly pale. Miwa could tell despite his unconscious state, the brunette was not in a peaceful state. His stomach twisted at the sight, but instead of feeling hopeless about the situation, he squared his shoulders and turned around.

"I'm going to interrogate these neighbors," he stated to Kazama. "I will find out their plans, and I will find out how to fix Kikuchihara."

Soya nodded although he looked rather doubtful. "I'll be down in a little bit if nothing changes with him."

Shuji nodded in return and turned to exit when he paused. He turned back around to face Soya who looked at him quizzically.

"Have you seen or heard from Tachikawa?" he asked, realizing he completely forgot about the agent during the chaos.

Kazama frowned. "Actually, no. I completely forgot about him until now."

Miwa hesitated, now unsure of what he should do. Interrogating the neighbors could give Border useful information and could help Kikuchihara, but at the same time, if Kei escaped, he could cause more trouble for everyone.

He hesitated a moment longer before striding out of the room and moving briskly toward the rooms in which the neighbors were being held. He figured at this point, Kei had either escaped by now or was still pretending to be a loyal agent; either way, his cover would be blown soon. Getting information from the neighbors was more of a priority at this point.

Miwa reached the rooms, and after checking in with another agent and grabbing an earpiece so the commander could listen in, entered the cell of the female, knowing that while it would be more difficult to get information from her, she would probably be the most useful.

The neighbor looked up upon hearing the door, but she rolled her eyes as soon as she saw who it was.

"Oh, they just sent you," she said, sounding disinterested. Then, as if she just remembered something, she smiled smugly. "How's your friend?" she asked, with a tone of fake concern.

Miwa kept his cool and walked toward the table she sat behind. He took a seat in front of her and sat for several moments in silence to give her the idea he was in complete control.

He contemplated his next choice of words before speaking. "So, you're working with Tachikawa Kei," he stated without question.

The female looked at him with brief surprise before putting a smug look back on her face. "Let me guess - your agent friend who isn't doing so well told you."

Shuji smiled inwardly, glad the neighbor didn't deny his accusation. He knew the conversation was being overheard, so even if Kei had escaped by this point, there was no way he could deny involvement in this case, and Border would be on his trail soon enough.

"I didn't get your name," he replied to the neighbor, not answering her question.

She didn't reply for several moments, and Miwa knew she was considering what her best path of action would be.

"Seraphine," she replied finally, leaning back in her chair as if trying to appear calm and comfortable in the situation.

He nodded then leaned forward on the table. "Well, Seraphine, we know you and your friend are involved with Kei in trying to take down Border. The question I have for you is why."

She simply smirked. "I imagine you expected this interrogation to be difficult. Well agent, I'll tell you what you need to know." Miwa looked at her in surprise, and she continued on. "Simply because you may have stopped me and my brother, but you have not stopped Tachikawa."

"And what is that supposed to mean?" he asked with a frown.

"Kei caught me and my brother one day trying to set a bomb outside of Border," she began nonchalantly. "He stopped us, but only because he didn't want us to get caught. He said the three of us had similar goals and would be able to work together very well. So, he brought us to a safe location, and we just talked."

Miwa stared at Seraphine, trying his best to keep his shock under control as she continued speaking. "The goal we all wanted was to cripple Border; not completely destroy it, but make it weakened enough so that someone else could take over.

Kei wanted power; he wanted to control Border and eventually take over the city. He was tired of simply being an agent and wanted more. I, on the other hand, wanted your resources. My planet is known for its cavalry, but we are nothing now compared to the technology on this planet. I wanted more for our planet, more for our people."

"So why didn't you bring a whole army to attack?" he interjected after hearing this. She looked at him confusedly. "Why would you only bring you and your brother to try and take down an organization like this?"

She hesitated momentarily. "I more so wanted to prove my worthiness to my father," she said, still sounding nonchalant. "He was a major military leader, and I wanted to help enhance his armies even more." Seraphine shrugged.

Miwa frowned. Something still did not make sense to him. "I understand everything you're saying, but why then would you disclose your plans to me? If Tachikawa is still out there, you still could have had a shot at your goal."

"Not exactly," she said. "Tachikawa wanted all the power; my brother and I were only to be his aids. I was going to kill him when the chance arose, but now that my brother and I are here, even if Kei manages to take down Border, there is no way we could even obtain the power we wanted. Even if I did kill Tachikawa, we would never be taken seriously by the citizens seeing as we would not be recognized as being apart of the destruction of Border."

Shuji sat back, taking in all of the information. So clearly, this neighbor was smart and knew when to give up and what was best. She was probably trying to take the path that would get her out of here as quickly as possible, and turning against Kei seemed to be her best option.

"Do you know where Tachikawa is or what he plans on doing now that this has failed?" he questioned.

Seraphine shrugged again. "He never spoke of what he would plan on doing if our plans failed; he was either certain his plans would work or didn't want to disclose what he would do if things went wrong."

The agent nodded, content at the moment with the information he was given. He was now ready to approach the next topic.

"Now about our agent you injected with the triphonen," he began, and he noticed a deranged curiosity in Seraphine's eyes. Miwa continued on. "What is going on with him?"

She grinned. "He wasn't supposed to wake up from that, you know. He must be something special; few people can wake up from a drug like that. Although at this point, I would say he doesn't have much time left - from how it sounds, it seems as if his body is already rejecting the triphonen."

Shuji's stomach twisted with her words, but he didn't allow any emotion to appear on his face. "We know there is an antidote from your planet."

"You're not wrong," she simply said, clearly enjoying toying with him.

It was clear her willingness to cooperate had disappeared which frustrated Miwa. He thought he understood this neighbor, but it was clear he didn't.

"Then how about we make a deal?" he suggested, leaning backward, trying to appear as if he didn't care either way. "You must want to go back home; or, at least, you don't want to sit in a cell the rest of your life."

She raised a brow. "You don't have the authority to do that," she said, sounding uncertain.

"Border has all rights to keep you here," he stated, crossing his arms over his chest. "So I'll give you a choice - you give me an antidote, and I let you and your brother go on the contingency you never come back here. That is, of course, if you don't want to die here."

Seraphine paused for several moments before replying. "See, agent, there's only one problem with that. I don't have an antidote with me - I would need to go back to Leoforio to bring one here. And by that time, your friend will probably be dead, or at least very close to it."

"And how long would it take you to go there and back?" he asked slowly, not wanting to sound too desperate.

She looked up in thought. "If I had a fast enough ship, I could be back tomorrow night or early morning of the following day."

Miwa nodded, realizing this was probably his best option. Of course, he would have to talk to Kido, but if this was the only way to save Shiro, the plan would probably go through.

"Then you'll leave here either tonight or early morning tomorrow." Seraphine looked eager, and Miwa knew she had ulterior motives. "However, your brother stays here with us until you return and the antidote has healed our agent." Her smile immediately disappeared. The agent continued on. "Also, I will have another agent accompany you to make sure you are taking the correct route and not trying to delay your return."

"I will not go without my brother," she hissed, clearly not expecting this condition.

"You don't have a choice," Miwa snapped. "It's either you bring back the antidote and have your freedom after, or you and your brother die here. There's no room for negotiation in your position."

If looks could kill, Shuji would be dead. Seraphine glared at him for several moments, and he just stared back, forcing her to understand how desperate her situation was. Finally, after what felt like forever, she sat back a bit.

"Fine," she snapped, "I'll do it. But you have to swear my brother and I will be let free after your agent is restored."

Miwa nodded. "I promise you. You two will be able to return home if the antidote works."

Seraphine nodded, and the agent stood up. "Someone will be here later to prepare for your trip." And with that, he exited the room.

"Are these plans alright with you, commander?" Miwa asked into the earpiece, knowing Kido had been listening the whole time.

"I have already arranged a ship for the neighbor to take," he replied. "You can choose an agent to accompany her."

"Thank you sir," he replied, glancing over at the male neighbor. "Should I speak with the other?"

"I do not believe that is necessary at the time. We have all the information we need."

Shuji nodded, making his way back upstairs. "Of course." He was about to take out the earpiece when Kido spoke again.

"Agent Miwa, I want your squad to be on top of capturing Tachikawa. I have several other teams tracking him down, but we can't seem to find his location. I want you to lead these teams and bring him back. Understood?"

"Of course commander. I will get right on that."

With that, the line went dead, and Miwa put back the earpiece, heading upstairs to go check in with his team.


	16. Hanging On

Kikuchihara slowly blinked his eyes open, squinting from the bright light and wishing he hadn't woken up. He had a pulsating headache which made him feel as if he was going to burst, and his entire body felt as if it had been beaten up. He let out a quiet groan, unable to make a noise much louder. He tried to roll over but quickly stopped, wincing from the sharp pain it brought.

"Hey Kikuchihara," he heard and looked over to see Kazama seated next to him. He looked back to the ceiling, closing his eyes yet again.

"Where am I?" he asked, his voice barely audible.

"The infirmary," Soya replied. "We brought you here after you collapsed during the attack."

Oh yeah, he forgot about that. "Is everyone okay?"

"Everyone is fine. The question is, are you okay?" Kazama asked, shifting as if unsure of what to do.

The brunette didn't answer for several moments. At this point, he couldn't lie; everyone knew something was wrong, including him, so there was no point in faking it. The issue was he didn't want everyone to continue worrying over him if there was nothing they could do; after all, what was the point in telling everyone how much pain he was in if all they could do was sit there and watch?

"I'm alright," he said simply, causing his leader to raise a brow. Shiro continued on. "So everything hurts, but it's fine. I'm sure it will go away eventually."

Pain flashed on Kazama's face but quickly disappeared, making the teen wonder if he even saw it on his face at all. He winced again as another sharp pain flashed in his temple, and he tried shifting his body again without much success.

"We have someone going with the female neighbor to retrieve the antidote," Kazama said in a calm tone. "Just hang in there - they are leaving tomorrow morning and should be back the following day. Do you think you'll be alright until then?"

Kikuchihara nodded, although to be quite honest, he didn't know if he could manage. He didn't know what the triphonen was doing to his system, but he would have to be an idiot to believe he would be fine without an antidote.

"We would give you a painkiller, but it only seemed to make you worse. I know this sucks, but try to hang in there. And if you need anything, please let me know, okay? Don't hold everything inside - I'm here to help."

Shiro nodded again, trying his hardest to ignore the throbbing throughout his body. He noticed Kazama's concerned look but brushed it off.

"Why don't you go home, Kazama-san?" he asked, changing the subject. "It's probably pretty late, and you probably need rest after today."

"I'm not going to leave now that you're awake," he replied. "If anything happens, I need to be here."

Shiro rolled his eyes, covering up for the fact that he did in fact appreciate his leader's compassion. "Kazama-san," he half whined, "that's what the doctors are here for. Just go home."

Instead of replying initially, Soya leaned back in his chair and placed his feet on the top of a nearby side table. "Nope, I'm staying right here. Sorry for wanting you to be alright."

The brunette sighed but immediately started coughing. Soya quickly leaned forward, prepared to call a doctor, but Shiro stopped after several moments.

"I'm fine," he managed to get out, sitting up to catch his breath. However, as soon as he was upright, his headache intensified, and he felt a burning shoot through his upper body. He bit his lip and squeezed his eyes shut, laying back down in hopes the pain would die down again. He lay his head back on the pillow, and while the pain didn't die down, it didn't increase either.

"I'm calling a doctor," Kazama said, getting up.

"No, don't, please," Shiro said as loudly as he could which, quite frankly, was not loud at all.

Kazama turned back around. "Kikuchihara, you are not okay, and you need to understand it's okay to get help sometimes." Shiro opened his mouth to protest, but his leader cut him off. "I understand you dislike being the center of attention, but right now you need to be, alright?"

With that, Soya left the room, leaving the teen alone for almost a minute before his leader returned with a doctor.

"Hello Kikuchihara," the doctor said, moving to Shiro's bedside. "I understand we cannot alleviate your situation without this antidote, but if you could explain to me exactly what is going on in your body, I could try my best to find something to at least tone down the pain a bit and try to stop these attacks you are having."

The brunette nodded but didn't speak for several moments, unsure as to whether or not he should actually tell the doctor what he wanted to know. After all, if he couldn't do anything without an antidote, what was the point in telling him and concerning Kazama even more?

He tried avoiding eye contact with his leader, but immediately he figured out what the teen was doing. "Kikuchihara, please," he somewhat pleaded. "We're only trying to help you, so you need to help us."

The teen remained silent for another several moments, and Kazama opened his mouth to speak again.

"My head feels like it's going to burst," Shiro whispered, cutting off his leader before he could speak. "I get random shoots of pain through it. And my body feels as if it was beaten up, it occasionally feels like it's burning, and it gets so bad sometimes I lose focus of everything around me. Is that descriptive enough?" he added at the end, sounding bitter; not that he meant to, he just hated opening up to people.

The doctor nodded and wrote down a few notes. "Well, to me it sounds as if your body is rejecting the substance in your system. Of course, you should be fine once the antidote is brought back; unfortunately, I don't have any painkillers to combat this, so you'll just have to hang on until then."

Kikuchihara nodded, already knowing this, and the doctor left the room. He leaned back, and Kazama made his way back over to his side.

"I don't understand why you are making this so difficult," his leader said in a neutral tone. Shiro looked at him quizzically, and Soya continued on. "Clearly what you are going through isn't easy, so I don't know why you won't just tell us how you feel."

"Kazama-san," he said, slowly becoming frustrated from his concern. "I don't tell you because there is nothing anyone can do about it. There's no point in making everyone worry about something they can't control!"  
His voice broke at the end, and he took several deep breaths in an attempt to catch the breath he lost, not realizing how much effort it took just to talk in a somewhat loud voice. His vision began to blur, and he blinked quickly before anything escaped his eyes.

It was silent in the room for several moments, and the only sound to be heard was Shiro's breathing. Finally, Kazama spoke up.

"Kikuchihara, I know you're scared, and I know you hate talking about yourself and how you're feeling. I get it, okay? And I'm sorry if we're pushing you, but we just want you to get better, alright?"

He took a shaky breath and nodded, trying to calm himself down. He felt his heart racing and wasn't sure if it was from the drug or just his sudden change in demeanour. He tried to steady his breathing but was so far failing. Soya immediately became alert again, and it was good he did.

He suddenly found he was unable to breathe, and he started to panic. He sensed Soya run to grab the doctor, but after that, everything became a blur.

 _Please just make this end,_ he thought right before he passed out.


	17. Curiosity

Miwa walked into Border's ship dock the following morning. Waiting there for him was Seraphine and another agent by her side.

Miwa nodded to the two of them. "Good morning. Thank you Kitora for taking this mission."

She nodded back. "No need to thank me," she said simply.

The three walked over to the ship they would be taking. "I trust you understand all the details?" Shuji asked Kitora who nodded back.

"Yes. We go straight to Leoforio, get this antidote, and come right back. No funny business." When Shuji seemed satisfied, she added, "and don't worry. I have this one under control."

He nodded one more time, and with that, Kitora and Seraphine boarded the ship. However, he didn't wait to see them off; instead, he walked back into Border and went to meet with his team. Right now, their priority was locating Tachikawa before he could cause any more destruction. He already had several other teams out on patrol, so he wanted his team to focus on the areas in which Kei met with the neighbors in private.

He walked into his team room, greeting Yoneya, Narasaka, Kodera, and Tsukimi.

"So what's the plan for today?" Yoneya asked, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed across his chest.

"There are several places I want to check," he replied. "I know he met in secret with the neighbors at several locations, so they could potentially give us some sort of idea where he is. It's not like there are many places he can go without us finding him."

Narasaka nodded. "And if we don't find anything?"

"Then we just have to continue patrolling and making sure we're ready for anything." Miwa shrugged, trying to act as if it didn't bother him that they literally knew next to nothing about Tachikawa's whereabouts or future plans.

He nodded toward the door. "Shall we head out?"

It was midday when Miwa's team finished exploring all the possible places Kei could have gone. Miwa sighed, running his hand through his hair in frustration.

"Hey, it's okay Miwa," Yoneya said, moving over to the leader. "It was a slim chance anyways - he could be anywhere at this point. We'll get him eventually."

"Yeah, I know," Shuji responded, still irritated. "I just want to catch him before he can ruin anything else."

"I wouldn't worry too much," Narasaka said. "The chances of him doing any real damage when he's working alone are pretty slim."

Miwa nodded, although his mood still didn't lift. His thoughts briefly traveled to Kitora and Seraphine, and he hoped all was going as planned and on schedule.

He turned back to his team. "Well, we might as well head back to Border and see if there are any updates there."

Nodding in agreement, the team made their way back to headquarters at a decent pace, arriving back in no later than ten minutes. After checking in with the other teams and finding they had not obtained any information regarding Tachikawa, Miwa told his team to take a break and relax. When they went their separate ways, he headed to the infirmary to check on Kikuchihara, who, last he heard, was still there.

He entered the door, and instead of seeing Kazama, he came upon Utagawa who was pacing by the window. He turned, hearing footsteps, and relaxed somewhat upon seeing who it was.

"Miwa," he said with a nod. "Any luck?"

Shuji shook his head, walking further into the room. "Nothing," he replied, glancing over at Shiro. The teen was hooked up to a tank of oxygen and, despite being unconscious, was trembling slightly. Miwa glanced away quickly, not wanting to keep staring at the teen who clearly was only getting worse.

Utagawa noticed Miwa's expression. "He keeps having attacks every time he's awake," he explained in a quiet tone. "I wasn't here when the last one happened, but Kazama said it was like he was suffocating or having an asthma attack or something; basically, he couldn't breathe, and Kazama was afraid that...well.." his sentence died off, but they both knew what he was going to say. Soya was afraid Shiro had almost stopped breathing, that the drug had finally one its battle against his body.

"The antidote should be here by tonight or tomorrow morning," was Shuji's reply, turning to look out the window. He opened his mouth, about to say something about Shiro holding out until then, but he stopped himself, not wanting to sound as if he didn't think the teen would make it.

"He'll be fine," he said instead, trying to sound as convincing as possible; however, he didn't turn to look at Ryo's expression, afraid of what he might see.

It was silent for several moments, and Miwa was about to leave when Utagawa spoke up.

"Miwa," he said, sounding hesitant, and the agent turned around to face Ryo. He turned his eyes to the ground and paused momentarily. "I...I'm really worried," he said quietly, briefly making eye contact with Shuji. He opened his mouth again but quickly shut it.

Miwa got the sense Utagawa was embarrassed about admitting to this and didn't want to make a big deal over it.

"Hey," he said softly, causing the teen to look up at him. "I know you are, but try not to - he's going to be alright, okay?"

Ryo nodded, still seeming unconvinced but more strong than previously.

"You need to be strong for him and everyone else at Border anyways," Miwa added as an afterthought. "You're no good if you're distracted by him."

"You're right," Utagawa replied. "Thanks."

Miwa nodded and was about to leave when he stopped. "And don't be afraid to tell others how you're feeling," he said without turning around. Without waiting for a reply, he quickly left, not wanting to get into some emotional conversation.

He glanced at his watch, knowing there wasn't much else to do at this point in the day. He hadn't heard anything from the patrol teams, so clearly there was no sign of Tachikawa yet. He was surprised Arashiyama's team hadn't found anything, considering his team was the one who searched his house.

He waited for several moments, the thought rolling over in his head. Finally, having made up his mind, he sent out a group message to his team and told them he was heading out to investigate something, and they were free to do what they wanted. With that, he headed out the door and toward Kei's home.

Once he reached the street in which his house was, he grabbed his trigger, not changing into his trion body but holding the trigger just in case something happened. He took a brief look around before moving quickly toward Tachikawa's. Miwa looked in all the window's before testing the door which, to his surprise, was unlocked. Cautiously, he opened the door and walked quietly inside.

The place was far from tidy, and Miwa got the sense it was from Kei leaving in a rush rather than Arashiyama's team searching the place. Clothing was strewn all over the floor, and random objects lie scattered all over the place. He moved slowly, looking all around him. He stopped to look at some papers and books that lie scattered about, but they revealed nothing of importance. He continued moving and entered the kitchen which was relatively neat compared to the room he was just in.

After looking around for several moments, Shuji was about to move on when something caught his eye. He walked over to a side table and picked up a manilla folder with a considerably large stack of papers inside. Curious, he opened the folder, and he frowned as he slowly felt a mixture of confusion and surprise overcome him.

He found himself looking at detailed reports of all the A rank agents at Border that, as far as Miwa knew, were only supposed to be seen by the higher up's. He glanced over the first few briefly, just looking at things everyone could know such as age, height, weight, and any known side effects; at first, he felt too invasive to read any additional notes, but he soon came across his own, and curiosity got the best of him.

Besides his basic information, there were several paragraphs under a section named "additional information.". He began reading with a mixture of curiosity and nervousness. The first paragraph just had some personality traits and characteristics, like about his determination and such. Then he got to the next paragraph.

His throat tightened as he began reading his history from the neighbor attack which killed his sister. He continued reading despite wanting to stop, and was shocked to see all the detail Border had on this incident. He bit his lip, almost about to flash back to that day, but he stopped himself from doing so. He ignored the last paragraph and started flipping through the other agent's profiles, wanting to distract himself as quickly as possible.

He came upon Kikuchihara's and hesitated, not wanting to read his if it was as personal as his own, but once again, curiosity got the best of him. He realized he really didn't know that much about the agent, and he highly doubted anyone else did either, so he began skimming through his information.

Miwa began reading the section labeled "additional information" and frowned when he noticed it was quite a bit longer than his own. The first paragraph had to do with personality traits as well, so Shuji skimmed that considerably and quickly moved onto the next.

He began skimming it but soon slowed down, his eyes widening in surprise at the information he was obtaining. He continued reading until he was several paragraphs in, finding himself unable to stop until he heard a voice from behind.

"Like what you're reading?" it asked, and Miwa stopped cold, instantly recognizing the voice. He slowly turned around, his hand immediately grasping his trigger.

"Tachikawa," he said slowly, "it's been a while."

"It's very interesting," he continued without addressing Miwa. "Reading about everyone's history, their weaknesses. Border should have protected these files more carefully. If they get in the wrong hands, they can be used for very wrong reasons."

Miwa took a cautious step toward Kei who laughed. "Don't worry, I'm not going to harm you," he said with an evil glint in his eyes. "I should, considering you broke into my home. But, I'd rather wait until a later point in time, once I'm in power, to do something."

"That's not going to happen," Shuji hissed, taking another step forward. "You're alone on this; we have your neighbor friends. You're done with Kei, so you might as well turn yourself in."

Tachikawa laughed again. "Think what you want, but just because I'm alone doesn't mean I'm done with this yet." He backed up a step, and Miwa gripped his trigger tighter, preparing to take it out.

Kei noticed, and he smirked. "Don't worry, I'll see you soon. And when I do, I'll be your superior. Just keep that in mind, Miwa. Until then."

Realizing he was about to run, Miwa pulled out his trigger and transformed into his trion body. However, it was too late; Tachikawa had already been in his trion form and was nowhere to be seen. Shuji cursed under his breath and put his trigger back, irritated at messing up his best chance of catching Kei.

He immediately called Kido who picked up on the first ring.

"I just spoke with Tachikawa in his home," he informed the commander, telling him all of the details. "He's not giving up, so we must be prepared for anything," he finished.

"Thank you agent," Kido responded. "I will do what I can to tighten our defenses."

Miwa nodded, and the two hung up. He was about to leave when he looked back at the agent files which he purposefully left out of his conversation with Kido. He picked them up, knowing they didn't belong with Tachikawa, and decided it would be best to bring them back and give them to the commander. However, he paused, picking up Shiro's file again. He felt guilty, but he had to read the rest of it. He took several minutes to read through it as quickly as possible, then placed it back in the order it had been in previously. He ran his hand through his hair, and after several moments more, left the home and made his way back to Border.


	18. Relief

Miwa sat on his couch at home, eyeing his phone which sat on the table in front of him. He had been seated like this for at least a half an hour as he debated on calling Kazama to speak with him about the information from Kikuchihara's file. He knew what was in that file was very private, but at the same time, he also felt as if he needed to talk to someone about it. However, he knew deep down that Shiro's team leader probably didn't even know about the information in that file, and it kept Shuji from calling the man. He sighed, leaning back in frustration. His other option was to talk to Kikuchihara about it, but he also felt as if that was not the best option considering the teen would probably be very upset at his finding out about his past.

Sighing in defeat, Miwa was about to get up and grab some water when his phone rang, surprising him. He checked the number and saw Yoneya's name. He immediately picked up.

"Miwa," he started in a serious tone, "Kitora and Seraphine are back with the antidote. I don't know if you want to come back to Border, but they're going to give it to him now. They don't want to wait because he isn't doing so well. So, um, just thought I'd let you know."

Shuji quickly stood up and made his way to the door, putting on his shoes. "I'll be right there," he replied, hanging up the phone and putting his shoes on.

He began walking briskly toward Border but soon began jogging, wanting to get there as soon as possible. He kept his mind blank the entire way, not wanting any pessimistic thoughts to enter his head.

Arriving quickly, he burst through the doors and immediately ran into the infirmary, seeing Kazama, Utagawa, Kitora, and Seraphine as well as several doctors. They seemed to be preparing the antidote while the agents stood around anxiously. They all turned to him, greeting him with a nod and no words. Miwa could sense the tension and fear in the room, and he quickly understood why.

He glanced at Shiro and immediately winced. The teen looked dead; he was pale as a ghost, and the heart monitor he now had hooked up to him was barely registering a pulse. There was still a tremor in his body, and he looked so weak, it scared Miwa.

Noticing his shock, Kazama moved over to him. "Seraphine insists he'll be fine once we give him the antidote," he said quietly as if not to be overheard. "The doctors just analyzed it to make sure it was safe, and they're just preparing it."

As soon as the words left Soya's mouth, the doctors moved over to the brunette, apparently having finished their preparation. The agents all moved out of the way, watching intensively as one of the doctors took the shot of the antidote and injected it straight into Kikuchihara's heart. He stepped back, waiting anxiously for anything to happen.

For several moments nothing happened, and the tension in the room arose. However, suddenly, the heart monitor started picking up rapidly, and Shiro's body began shaking.

The agents in the room immediately became concerned. "What's going on?" Kazama asked Seraphine in a deadly serious voice.

"It's normal!" she said in an equally serious voice. "The antidote is fighting off the rest of the drug in his system, and his body is also going to try and fight off the drug. It's going to be okay, just wait."

Kazama grit his teeth but remained quiet as everyone waited for the shaking to stop. The heart monitor continued increasing, and Miwa was afraid something had gone wrong. However, after a minute or two, his heart rate began dropping until it seemed to be at a normal rate, and soon enough, the shaking ceased as well. Shiro was still pale, but he looked more as if he was sleeping than dead.

He still didn't wake up, but the agents all felt as if something good had happened. They all looked to Seraphine who stared back, confident.

"He's okay," she breathed. "He'll wake up soon, but his body is probably exhausted from all the fighting it has been doing. Just give him some time."

Everyone in the room still felt on edge, but the tension seemed to have dropped considerably. Kazama walked closer to Kikuchihara and closed his eyes as if deep in thought. Finally, he opened his eyes and turned toward the others, nodding.

"He's fine, I can tell" he said, agreeing with Seraphine which reassured the other agents tenfold. Everyone released a collective sigh they hadn't realized they had been holding in, and Miwa watched as Utagawa collapsed into a chair. Shuji made eye contact with Kazama who gave him the slightest smile. Shuji allowed himself to smile a bit as well, and he blew out a breath.

One thing settled, one more to go, he thought to himself. Kikuchihara was okay, so now the only thing left to do was catch Tachikawa.

Well, that, and potentially talking to either Shiro or Kazama about what he read in the file.

He ran his hand through his hair, telling himself he would decide what to do when Shiro woke up. It wasn't a priority at the moment, but he knew he had to talk to someone about it at some point.

"Thank you for going, Kitora," Kazama said, turning to the agent. She blushed.

"Oh, Kazama, it's no big deal. I'm glad I could help!" she said with a small smile, not at all arrogant as usual.

Miwa turned to Seraphine. "I'm going to wait until this agent is awake and we are sure he is better before letting you and your brother go."

She opened her mouth to retort but quickly shut it and nodded. "I understand," she said with no hint of anger, knowing she still wasn't fully trusted. "I'm okay with waiting."

Miwa was surprised at how quickly Seraphine had changed since being captured, but then again, he supposed he hadn't really known her, and her whole tough demeanour could have all been an act.

He nodded toward the door. "Do you mind coming with me? You don't have to go back to your cell, but we at least need to keep you and your brother somewhere where you can be monitored."

She shook her head. "Not at all."

Miwa started to walk out when he was stopped by Ai. "I can take her," she offered. "You've been busy, and I don't have anything to do at the moment. It's no big deal."

Shuji hesitated, then nodded. "Thank you, Kitora," he replied. "I appreciate it."

The two females left the room, leaving Kazama, Utagawa, and Miwa alone in the room, the doctors having left several minutes ago.

"That was unexpected of you," Soya said to Miwa, looking up to meet his eyes.

Miwa shrugged. "I didn't see why it was necessary to put her back in a cell. She helped us out; I didn't want to be too harsh on her."

It was silent for several moments until Soya spoke up again. "I appreciate everything you've done, Miwa."

"Don't thank me," he replied, looking away, partly due to embarrassment but also due to the weight of Kikuchihara's file information weighing down on him. Kazama seemed to notice something, and he raised a brow. Shuji remained silent, and Soya seemed to get the hint that he didn't want to talk about it.

"Well, you guys should probably get some rest," Kazama said to the two of them. "It's been a long day for everyone."

"Kazama-san, you should go home too," Ryo stated. "You've been here all day. Kikuchihara's fine, so there's no need for you to stay here."

Soya shook his head. "Thanks, but I want to be here when he wakes up. I'll be fine, so go home Utagawa."

The teen looked like he was about to retort, but Miwa shook his head. "He's right," he said. "We both need some rest. Let's just head out."

Utagawa sighed, giving in. He stood up and headed toward the door, pausing for Miwa. "You coming?" he asked.

"You go ahead, I need to grab something from my team room first," he said, waving the other ahead. Utagawa nodded, then headed out.

"Everything okay?" Kazama asked, and Shuji turned to face him. He hesitated, unsure as to whether or not he should bring it up. However, at this point, Soya knew he was hiding something from him, and he didn't want Soya on his case.

"Uh, yeah, Kazama, there's something we need to talk about," he started, not knowing how to start the conversation.

"Okay, what's going on?"

Miwa opened his mouth to reply, then sighed, looking away for a moment before returning his gaze to the other. "Maybe we should have seat…"


	19. And The Truth Comes Out

After debating as to whether or not they should have the conversation in the same room in which Kikuchihara was resting, they decided to go in another room in the infirmary, just in case the brunette decided on waking up.

They sat down at a table, and several moments went by in which neither leader said anything. Miwa went over in his head several times how to start the conversation, but he couldn't seem to make the words come out. Soya waited patiently until Miwa finally decided to speak.

"I went to search Tachikawa's house," he started slowly, making sure to choose his words carefully. "I found a set of agent files that he stole from Border, files that are only supposed to be seen by the higher up's. They contained basic information on all the A rank agents, but they also contained very detailed background and personal information."

Kazama's face remained neutral, but Miwa could tell he had peaked his interest, and, probably concern as to where this was going.

"I only read mine and was going to stop at that," he began again, looking down at the table. "But then I found Kikuchihara's, and curiosity got the best of me."

He hesitated several moments before starting again. "I sometimes wondered why he was always so somber and negative. He's a good agent, but very impersonal. I guess he's kind of like me in that aspect, so I always assumed it was either due to the crap he got about his side effect or some other thing like that that made him annoyed with people."

He stopped again, looking up at Kazama briefly, and he could tell the leader really had no idea where this was going. From what he could tell, Soya knew just as much about Shiro as everyone else. He didn't know whether that made him feel more guilty about confiding in him or better that someone else would know. He drew in a breath, continuing yet again.

"I started reading his file, and there's a lot he keeps hidden from everyone. Kazama… his parents… they were murdered when he was eleven years old, right in front of him. The file said he had arrived home after school, and someone was in the house holding a knife to his mother's throat. His dad was on the ground, hardly conscious. Apparently, Shiro didn't know who the man was, but the man knew him, and after watching Shiro freak out and his mother beg for her son to run, the man slit her throat, then he killed his father right after."

Miwa closed his eyes, remembering every detail of that report. Remembering how it said the police arrived shortly after, finding Kikuchihara screaming at his parents to wake up, how it said the police had to drag him off of his parent's bodies, how the man got away, leaving no trace of evidence.

"Kazama, the police never found out who it was, so Kikuchihara doesn't know who murdered them, or why," he said so quietly he might as well have been whispering.

"But Border knows who did it," he stated, and he felt Kazama look up at him with a mixture of confusion and something else Shuji couldn't quite figure out.

"Tachikawa's father did it."


	20. Ignorance is Bliss

The temperature in the room seemed to drop several degrees, and the two remained in silence for several moments, seeing as Kazama was speechless, and Miwa had told all he deemed necessary to tell.

Finally, Soya found his voice. "Kei's father murdered Kikuchihara's parents," he said, in a slow and soft voice, "and neither the police nor Shiro know this?"

Miwa nodded.

"Does Kei know this?"

Shuji shook his head. "I don't believe so, unless he read it in his file. I don't think anyone knows except the higher up's. How they know this, I don't know, but I don't think they ever wanted anyone knowing, including Kikuchihara himself."

Soya shook his head, and Miwa couldn't tell if it was due to disbelief, anger, or what.

"I-I can't believe none of us knew this," he said quietly. "I mean, I guess I can because he never talks about himself whatsoever, but still. I…" he trailed off as if unsure of how to convey his feelings. "I just feel terrible," he said. "I feel terrible that he's hid this away for so long and hasn't told anyone. And the fact he doesn't know who murdered his parents and why they did it…" Soya trailed off again, but this time it seemed as if he had a thought.

"Did it say in the file why he murdered his parents?" Kazama asked with a frown.

Miwa nodded, remembering this part went on to the second page of the file. "It said something about them helping to organize the start of Border, and they were in the process of developing new technologies for the organization. Tachikawa apparently didn't want the technology to be created, so he tried to kill them before it could be created. However, he never found the information, so he failed in his mission, but still."

Miwa shrugged. "He was against Border from the very start. That's why I think the commander never told Kei what his father did because it would cause problems. Although it looked like it didn't do any good."

Soya nodded, taking in a quiet breath and shaking his head. "Things just always seem to be complicated here, don't they?" he said, looking away.

It was silent again for several moments. Then, "I didn't know if I should have told you, but I knew I had to tell someone, and I figured you were the best person to tell. And I also didn't know whether or not to confront Kikuchihara or not…"

"No, thank you for telling me," Kazama said, looking back to Miwa. "As to whether or not we tell him all the details, I think we should leave that out unless we speak to Kido about it. After all, no one is supposed to know this information, and we don't want to make things worse. But, I will consider speaking to him about the rest."

Miwa nodded and was about to open his mouth when a noise from the other room caught their attention. Kazama looked to Shuji, and the two got up, moving back into the other room to see Shiro sitting up in bed, about to stand up.

"Okay, let's not do that right now," Soya interjected, causing the teen to stop right as he was about to get off the bed.

"Kazama-san, I'm fine now, I just want to get up," he retorted in a semi-strong voice. Miwa looked at the brunette and could tell he still seemed a bit shaky from all the strain that was on his body.

Soya clearly noticed too and raised a brow. "Kikuchihara, you need to rest a bit longer. At least until tomorrow morning."

Shiro sighed but did as his leader commanded. He sat back down with his head against the headboard of the bed so he could face the other two without looking up. "Did anything important happen while I was out that last time?"

Kazama and Miwa made eye contact that was probably a bit too long, because Shiro noticed and raised a brow. "What happened?"

Miwa broke the eye contact, and Soya shifted a bit. "Nothing," he replied steadily. "Miwa just ran into Tachikawa, but that's it. We don't have any other leads."

It was silent for several moments, and Shuji could tell Kikuchihara knew something was being hidden from him. After all, with his excellent hearing, there was probably no way he could have missed the difference in Kazama's tone. Miwa made eye contact with Kazama and opened his mouth.

"I know you just woke up, and I'm sorry, but I actually told Commander Kido I would speak with him." He gave a brief nod. "I'll be back."

With that, Miwa exited the room and immediately pulled his phone out. He sent a quick text to Kazama telling him not to bring up Shiro's parents yet, and then he made his way to the Commander.

He asked the secretary if he could speak with the Commander, and he only had to wait several brief minutes before being allowed in to see him.

"Agent Miwa," he said with a nod. "Do you have further information regarding Tachikawa Kei?"

Shuji shook his head. "Unfortunately, not at this point. There's something else I wanted to ask you."

Kido raised a brow. "And what is that?"

"Tachikawa had private files on all the A rank agents," he began in a calm, confident voice. "He stole them from the file room, and I brought them back. However, I read mine, and I also read agent Kikuchihara's."

He paused and looked at Kido's face; however, his face remained neutral, so he was either concealing anger or was not at all surprised by any of the information he had received. With a small breath, Miwa continued on.

"He doesn't know who murdered his parents, and I feel like he has the right to know. I'm not saying now is this best time to tell him, but I just think that at some point he should know, especially now that Kei most likely is not going to be a member of Border anymore. If you were worried about a divide forming between the two, I don't think that's an issue now."

It was silent for several moments, and Shuji was afraid he had said too much. However, after a little while, Kido nodded slowly.

"I understand what you are saying agent," he began slowly. "Obviously he was never made aware for several reasons, mainly to protect the stability of Border. I suppose it does not matter as much anymore…" he trailed off as if in thought. Then, "When Tachikawa is caught, he will be sent to prison for what he has attempted to do to Border and the agents working here. Therefore, you can decide what you tell agent Kikuchihara. However, if you decide to disclose the information to him, it is your responsibility to ensure he is ready to handle the information and will not do anything destructive toward Border or agent Tachikawa. Is this understood?"

Miwa nodded. "Of course, sir. I would not do anything I would believe to be harmful toward the agency or any of its members."

"Good," Kido said, apparently satisfied. "I also am trusting you to keep these files a secret."

Shuji nodded again. "The only person who knows is agent Kazama, but I promise no one else will know."

Kido nodded. "That is understandable. Thank you, agent Miwa."

Shuji took this as his dismissal and promptly left the room. He pulled out his phone and texted Kazama again.

"I spoke with Kido - you can talk to Kikuchihara about everything."


	21. That Part Where The Walls Fall Down

Kikuchihara watched Kazama slip his phone back into his pocket. He could tell by the expression on his leader's face that something was wrong. Well, not like he couldn't tell before - it was made blatantly obvious before that he and Miwa were hiding something from him. He just hadn't said anything in hopes that it would be brought up at some point later.

And from the uncomfortable look on Kazama's face, Shiro believed now was that time.

Kazama pulled up a seat next to the bed and sat down. Several moments of silence went by as Shiro watched Kazama, and his leader searched for the right words to say. He cleared his throat and looked at the brunette.

"So, Miwa went to Tachikawa's house and found a file folder he had stolen from Border," he began explaining, and Kikuchihara looked at him with curiosity. "It had information on all the A rank agents - basic information, but also..personal information as well."

Soya paused to gather his thoughts, and Shiro now looked at him with confusion. What could be in that file that was causing him to behave like this?

Taking a deep breath, his leader began again. "Miwa saw your file. Kikuchihara… it talked about your parents… about what happened to them."

Silence engulfed the room, and Shiro swore his heart stopped. Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion, and he felt Kazama's presence disappear.

No. Why would something like that be in a file? And now Miwa and Kazama knew too? No, this wasn't okay. He had kept it concealed for a reason, and now all of that crumbled just like that.

"Shiro?" Kazama said quietly, jolting the teen out of his thoughts. He looked over to his leader, not knowing what to say.

The two sat in silence, and Shiro got the sense Soya was waiting to say something else. The teen bit his lip, unsure as to whether or not he wanted to hear the rest of what his leader knew. However, he figured he would have to hear it sooner or later, and he decided he would rather suffer more emotional trauma now than have to show more emotion later.

"What else," he said in a tone barely above a whisper.

Kazama looked up at him, at first surprised by the question until he quickly understood the teen clearly could tell from his tone he was keeping something. He looked away and didn't answer for several moments.

"Kazama," he said in a somewhat pleading tone. "What is it?"

"Kikuchihara, who killed them?" he asked, and the brunette caught an undercurrent in his tone.

"I-I don't know," he answered slowly. "They never figured it out."

Kazama shook his head softly, and Shiro looked at him with even more confusion as he felt tears began to pool behind his eyes from frustration.

"Border knows what happened," Soya said calmly, looking to the teen to see how he was dealing so far. Shiro saw Kazama second guess himself, and he shook his head.

"And what exactly happened," he questioned, feeling several tears stream down his face.

"Kikuchihara, Tachikawa Kei's father killed your parents."

Kazama continued talking about what the teen assumed were more details, but even with his enhanced hearing, he couldn't hear what he was didn't even know how he was feeling - he couldn't tell if he was frustrated, angry, upset, or something else. He just knew he had put behind his parent's murder all those years ago, and now the wound was suddenly reopened.. And it was different now - now, there was a name and reason behind the murder, and while he hadn't exactly heard the reason, it still changed everything.

He took several quiet, shaky breaths, trying to calm himself down before tears started streaming down his face. He realized Kazama's eyes were on him, and he avoided eye contact.

"I'm fine," he said, wiping a stray tear from under his eye. "It was just a shock. I'm fine."

He felt Soya move closer to him, and he looked away, trying to shift over. "Kikuchihara, we need to talk about this. You've held this in for so long, and you can't just gloss this over like this never happened."

"Kazama, my parents were murdered, apparently by Tachikawa's father. There's nothing to talk about. It happened years ago, and I'm over it."

"You can't keep holding everything in forever," his leader replied softly. "You have a team, and we're here for you."

"Yeah, well I haven't told anyone yet and I've been fine, so I don't see why anything has to change."

"Because we care for you and don't want to continue seeing you act so emotionless when we know there's something else going on inside!"

"Why does it matter to you!?" he asked desperately, feeling what he thought were frustrated tears start to pool again in his eyes. "I don't get why everyone cares so much about how I'm feeling! It's not like anyone can do anything about the past, so that doesn't matter. And no one can change how I feel, so why should I have to tell you things that are completely irrelevant to your daily life?!"

He inwardly cursed as a large amount of tears began to fall from his eyes that he couldn't control. He hated this whole situation; he felt so weak and vulnerable in front of his leader, and he couldn't stand it. None of this would have happened if Tachikawa hadn't gotten ahold of those files. Or, at least, if Miwa had never seen them. Now everything he had worked to cover up had been destroyed, and he didn't know how things were going to turn out.

It was silent in the room for a long amount of time, and Shiro took that time to stop his tears. He finally felt the last tear escape his eye, and he took a couple last shaky breaths, continuing to avoid looking at Kazama who sat there looking very unsure of what to do.

"Kikuchihara," he started, sounding hesitant. "I understand what you're saying - why tell people something that they cannot help? I get it, okay? But at the same time, part of being in a team is letting people know if something is wrong so we can support each other and keep the dynamic of the team. Even if you think we can't help with something, if you need to get it off your chest, you should just say it - it will help both you and the rest of the team. And you might think it's weak to show emotion, but there's nothing wrong with that. I just wish you would understand that."

The brunette opened his mouth to reply, but at that moment, Utagawa burst into the room, almost out of breath.

"Kazama-san," he started, and both Kazama and Shiro sat up, hearing the urgency in their teammates tone. "The communications system is down. It looks like someone hacked in from the outside - it's not just a system failure."

"Tachikawa," Soya said matter of factly, and Ryo nodded. "There's no evidence directly leading to him, but that's what the superiors think. They're trying to restore the system but aren't having much luck so far."

Kikuchihara felt Kazama look at him once again, but he still didn't make eye contact. His leader gave a small sigh and stood up."Kikuchihara, you're staying here. Do not leave this bed."

The teen nodded, and Kazama and Utagawa ran out of the room. However, as soon as they were gone, he stood up, testing his weight before searching the room for his clothes. Quickly finding them, he changed and swiftly exited the room.

 _Sorry, Kazama-san_ , he said to himself, _but you can't leave me out of this_.


	22. Capture

Miwa had just left the control room where every available technician was scrambling around trying to fix the break in the communication system. After quickly realizing he was of no help, he left the room to go find any agents still at Border despite the technicians telling him to go home. Kido told all teams that until the communication system was fixed, he did not want any teams going out on patrol.

Shuji was extremely frustrated, knowing Tachikawa was behind this. He knew the former agent was planning something, and this was simply the first step in his plan to take over Border. It just frustrated him that he couldn't do anything about it until Kei made himself visible to everyone.

The one thing Miwa couldn't figure out was the timing in the communication break - after all, it occurred when most agents had gone home for the night; to Miwa, it would have made more sense to do it when there were teams out on patrol. The only reason he could come up with was Tachikawa was simply trying to show his control.

After quickly finding out all the other A and B rank agents had gone home for the day besides Kazama's team, Miwa paused. feeling completely useless. There was nothing he or any of the agents could do right now, and he couldn't stand it.

He pulled out his cell phone, dialing Kazama's number. The male answered on the second ring.

"Kazama, it's Miwa. I think I'm going to head home for now seeing as there's nothing we can do here."

"Yes, I was thinking the same. Although, does Kikuchihara happen to be with you? He's not in the infirmary."

Shuji frowned. "He's not with me - last I've seen him, I told him to stay in bed."

He heard a concerned groan on the other line. "Of course he would leave. Thanks Miwa, I'm going to try and find him before I head out."

The line went dead, and Miwa placed the phone back in his pocket before angrily exiting the building.

Kikuchihara had snuck out of the infirmary as soon as everyone had left, not wanting to sit in there any longer. He felt a little weak when he first stood up but quickly got his bearings straight. Initially upon walking away from the room, he didn't know exactly what he wanted to do - all he knew was he wanted to do something to stop Tachikawa.

A pang went through his chest, and he bit his lip, thinking of the information Kazama had told him. He pushed the thoughts away, knowing he had to ignore it and not think of revenge; the only important thing was bringing Kei to justice to stop more people from getting hurt. The past didn't matter in this affair.

He tried to think as he walked, wondering how Tachikawa could have shut down communications unless he had somehow gotten into the building. He figured he might as well search the building to see if there was any sign of the agent; after all, if he was planning something tonight and this was simply the first step of his plan, he was probably still in the building. The problem was that Border was a huge building, and Kei could be anywhere. Also, there was no guarantee he was even in the building - the communications failure could have just been him showing his power, and he could be waiting for another point in time to try and take over the agency.

He ran his fingers through his hair, turning down another hallway and listening intently for anything. Searching the building probably would be much easier with other agents splitting up the work, but he didn't want to contact Kazama or agent Miwa, just in case they made him go home or something.

His phone began buzzing, but he pushed it to silent as he tried to make sure no one could hear him coming. He was nearing a door, and he pushed it open quietly, peeking his head in before moving into it. The lights were off, so he fumbled for the lightswitch.

Once the lights were on, he looked around the room, not recognizing it. It didn't appear to be in use as there was nothing in it besides several wooden crates and an uncovered light bulb hanging from the ceiling. There were several switches and buttons on the far wall that looked pretty complicated to Shiro, so he didn't bother going over to them. With one last glance around, he shut the door and was about to turn around when a voice from behind made him jump.

"Whatcha looking for?" the male voice said, and Shiro's blood ran cold. He slowly turned around to see Kei with an innocent grin on his face.

"I could ask you the same question," the brunette replied steadily, inwardly cursing at himself for not having his trigger out.

Tachikawa just laughed. "Don't worry about it," he said with ease, taking a step back. "You'll find out soon enough." He paused as if about to leave, and Kikuchihara was about to pull out his trigger when Kei turned back. "I also see you're doing well," he observed. "Looks like the triphonen didn't do what I intended." He shrugged, and Shiro's brow furrowed in anger.

Kei simply laughed again. "You'll be seeing more of me soon," he said with a sly grin and was about to run off when the brunette grabbed his arm while simultaneously pulling out his trigger. While still holding Kei who was taken by surprise, he transformed into his trion body, knowing he would have a better chance of capturing Tachikawa like this.

A brief look of annoyance flashed across Kei's face before being replaced by his signature grin. "Kikuchihara, you don't want to fight me," he said in a lighthearted yet threatening tone. "Let me go now, and I promise when I take over this place, you'll be my first in command."

Shiro's grip only tightened. "No. You're coming with me," he said firmly while hiding his concern of getting Kei to come with him. The latter was already in his trion body, and as much as the teen hated to admit it, Tachikawa was a better fighter than himself.

A brief moment of silence passed as Tachikawa's facial expression transformed into straight up anger. Suddenly, his trigger was in his hand, and he slashed upward at Shiro, giving him barely any time to react. The teen released his hold on Kei and just avoided being hit by the weapon. However, the distraction had given Tachikawa just enough time to begin running away.

With a grunt of frustration, Kikuchihara gave chase, keeping close on Kei's tail.

He can't go far, he thought to himself, there's nowhere for him to go.

Without warning, Kei suddenly stopped at the end of the hallway, and Shiro had to jolt to a stop in order to prevent himself from running into the man and his outstretched weapon. Kei lashed out at him, slashing the teen in the shoulder but not doing any critical damage. He quickly lashed out again, but this time, Kikuchihara jumped out of the way, landing a blow on Kei.

The two stood there as Kei stared at the brunette. Finally, he let out a little chuckle. "Why are you so against stopping me, agent?" he asked in an innocent tone. "You're trying to stop me, yet you don't even know what my goal is. If you would just stop and listen, you would realize I'm only trying to do what is best for this city, and, I suppose, this entire country."

Shiro snorted, keeping his stance just to be prepared for any sneak attack. "I highly doubt that," he replied, keeping a neutral tone. He noticed Kei open his mouth to reply, but he cut him off, wanting to control the conversation and get the information he wanted. "Why would you be willing to harm other agents if you were trying to help the city?"

Tachikawa shook his head. "Unfortunately, it was the only way I could have shown Border the weaknesses it contains," he started, trying to sound sincere; of course, Shiro could tell it was all a farce.

"Border isn't the great organization everyone thinks it is," he continued. "Sure, they stop neighbors from attacking citizens, but they also control the city and the people within it. How do you know they don't control when neighbors attack just so agents can easily defeat them and keep the citizens faith in the organization?"

Shiro shook his head, immediately dispelling the notion. "Why the hell would they do that?" he asked, struggling to keep from snapping at Kei.

Tachikawa grinned. "Why do you think? Power. That's all any of the higher ups want. And by controlling the citizens fear and faith in the organization, they get to keep it and can do whatever they want. That's why I want Border to be shut down."

"Don't you mean run by you?" Kikuchihara replied in a quiet yet firm voice, trying not to listen to Tachikawa's words. They had to be false, yet Kei's voice sounded so strong and so sincere, as if he really believed them to be true…

The man shrugged. "If I could make it better, then of course." Kei took a step forward, but the teen hardly noticed and remained where he stood, his position slacking off somewhat. "You could help me," he continued, taking another step, and then another until he was right in front of the brunette. "I know you have a good heart and only want what's best for everyone," he said, staring directly into Shiro's eyes. "So help me. We can make this place change."

Before Kikuchihara could reply, a blade suddenly appeared through the middle of Tachikawa's chest, and both Shiro's and Kei's eyes widened in complete surprise. Within moments, Kei had transformed back into his regular form right in front of Shiro, and Kazama appeared behind him, grabbing Kei's wrists and handcuffing them immediately.

"Alright, fun time is over Tachikawa," Soya said, yanking the man back with him. "You're coming with me."

Kei ignored Kazama and looked to Kikuchihara instead. "Just think about what I said, Shiro," he said innocently. Angrily, Kazama began dragging him back, and the two began disappearing down the hall. Before turning the corner where Ryo appeared, Kei called out one last thing.

"You know I'm right!"


	23. Doubt

With the help of Utagawa, Kazama brought Tachikawa into one of the holding cells and locked him in. Tachikawa had been surprisingly quiet and non-confrontational on the walk there, surprising Kazama, but he let it go as he had other thoughts more pressing than that.

For example, what had he been telling Kikuchihara before being dragged off? He was initially angry at the teen for ignoring his command to stay in bed, but after seeing his face after his confrontation with Tachikawa, confusion and a bit of worry crept up inside him. Shiro had looked...conflicted, and Kazama was afraid Kei had told some lie of some sort to try and reason with the teen.

Soya turned to Utagawa. "Let Kido know we have Tachikawa," he said, and Ryo nodded. "I'm going to go get Kikuchihara."

Without waiting for a reply, he began walking quickly in the direction he came from, hoping he would catch Shiro walking away from where they stopped Kei. However, after completing the entire path he had taken plus a bit more, Shiro was nowhere to be found. Kazama frowned, wondering where the teen could have gone in such a short amount of time.

Thinking about Kikuchihara's habits, he figured the brunette probably went somewhere to be alone. There were an infinite number of places where one could hide in Border, but after several times of having to find the teen after not answering his leader's calls before, he was almost certain of where he was. With purpose, he walked upstairs to the top floor and into the least used break room, knowing this was one of Shiro's favorite places to get away from everyone. However, much to Kazama's surprise, no one was there.

He frowned but decided to check the other room the teen would hide away in. He went back down the stairs to the floor below into another room, but there was still no sign of the agent. Kazama now had no idea where the teen could have gone considering he wasn't in his two most visited locations.

Just for the hell of it, Soya decided to check the team room. He doubted Kikuchihara would be there considering it would be the most likely place for someone to be, but he figured he might as well give it a chance.

He opened the door to the room and had to take a second glance upon noticing a figure with light brown hair sitting with his back to Kazama in the corner of the room. Soya walked further into the room, relief flooding into his system.

"There you are," he said, next to Kikuchihara. "You helped catch Tachikawa. Why'd you run off here?"

Shiro stared straight ahead and shrugged. "Just needed some peace and quiet," he replied nonchalantly.

Kazama nodded, taking a seat. "I understand," he replied with a nod. "It's been a rough couple of days, but at least it's over now."

The teen nodded, and Kazama could tell there was something else on his mind.

"What's going on, Kikuchihara?" he asked, turning his chair so he was directly facing his fellow agent. "I know you're thinking about something in that head of yours."

The brunette shrugged again but looked as if he was thinking over in his head what he wanted to say. Soya gave him a few moments, and finally Shiro began speaking.

"You don't think…" he started, pausing for several moments. "You don't think Border coordinates neighboring attacks on purpose, right?"

Kazama looked at him with a mixture of confusion and surprise, wondering where a thought like that came from. He was about to ask when he quickly realized Tachikawa must have told him in an attempt to get help from Shiro.

"Kikuchihara, if this is something Kei told you, you need to ignore everything he has said," he replied firmly, looking directly into the teen's eyes even though he was staring at a distant point on the ground. "He was trying to get into your head, and you can't let him succeed. I promise you, Border would never do something like that - you should know, considering you're A rank and know more information than other agents."

"They hid away those files from us," he responded, and Soya could tell he was trying his hardest to maintain a neutral tone. "How do you know they aren't hiding other things from us?"

Soya shook his head, shocked and a bit angry at how easily Tachikawa had gotten into Shiro's head. Although, with everything that had happened these past few days, he supposed the teen's mental state wasn't the best which made it easier to get into his head.

"Kikuchihara, you need to listen to me," he said in a pressing tone. "Tachikawa is trying to manipulate you and put doubt into your head. You cannot listen to him. Border was created to help this city, not destroy it, alright? Kei just wants power, just like his father, and that's the reason he wants Border destroyed. It's not to save anyone, it's only for his selfish reasons. You cannot let someone like that manipulate your thoughts."

After several moments of silence, Shiro nodded his head. "I know," he said quietly. "I'm trying. I know he's wrong, but…" he stopped and took a breath. "I don't know. I was just upset, and I guess I wasn't thinking straight. You're right."

Kazama looked at the teen's face, trying to figure out if he was actually telling the truth instead of telling Soya what he wanted to hear. He could tell Kikuchihara was still conflicted, but it seemed like for the most part, it was because of everything going on rather than justifying the information given to him by Tachikawa.

With a sigh, Kazama stood up and offered a hand to the brunette who looked at it in surprise. "Come on," he said, nodding toward the door. "We have Tachikawa; there's nothing else to do here. I think you deserve to go home."

Shiro stared at his hand for a few more moments, then he nodded in reply and accepted it. He began making his way to the door but turned around before exiting.

"Kazama-san, are you staying here?" he asked, glancing at the clock on the wall. "It's almost twelve."

He nodded. "I'm just going to see if they are going to do anything with Tachikawa tonight," he replied. "But then I'm going home."

Shiro nodded. "You sure I shouldn't stay for this?"

Figuring he would have said something like that, Soya moved to the door and gently pushed the teen out the door, causing him to protest.

"Go home," he said. "I'll call you if we need you tomorrow."

With a sigh, the teen nodded and was on his way, leaving Kazama alone in the team room. He glanced at the clock despite already being told the time.

 _I doubt they are going to start any type of interrogation tonight_ , he told himself as he considered going home at that moment. He walked out the door and was about to turn toward the exit when he paused. He stood there for several moments and then turned and headed in the opposite direction. _I guess I should check just to make sure,_ he said to himself as he began walking toward Kei's holding cell.


	24. You Can't Run From Your Own Mind

Immediately after walking in his door, Kikuchihara walked into his bathroom and turned the shower on maximum heat. He stripped his clothes off and stepped in, letting the steaming water fall over his body. He stood there for a while just trying to clear his mind and didn't end up shutting off the water for at least another twenty minutes. His head somewhat cleared for the moment, he stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel, walking to his room to grab clean clothes.

He sighed in relief upon seeing his own living space; it felt as if he hadn't been there in forever, although in reality, it had only been a couple of days. He hastily found a sweatshirt and some pants to put on as the chill of his home began to counteract what the hot shower did for him. After he was all set, he flung himself onto his bed back first and just stared at the ceiling, his mind unable to think or feel anything that could be described.

He didn't even know how he was feeling at the moment. He should have felt relieved that the whole Tachikawa-attacking-Border thing was over, but for some reason, he felt more lost than relieved. He knew it was because of the information Kazama told him regarding his parents, but he didn't know why it was bothering him so much.

Their deaths happened several years ago; therefore, he didn't believe it should be affecting him now. Why did it matter if it was Kei's father who committed the crime? In the end, they were dead, so it shouldn't matter who did it.

The teen felt something wet on his cheek, and he slowly realized he had begun crying again. He grit his teeth, suddenly angry at everything, including himself. Why was this hurting him so much? He had worked so hard to suppress his emotions, and one insignificant thing was unraveling everything. He stood up and moved over to his desk, raising his hand to knock everything over. However, he stopped himself before he could do any damage.

He slowly lowered his hand, breathing heavily, all his anger suddenly draining out of him as the feeling of emptiness filled his body again. Without much grace, he slid onto the floor, resting his back on the side of his bed. He was no longer crying, but he felt as if he no longer knew anything; there were too many emotions running through his head that he wasn't used to, and he honestly didn't know how to deal with it.

After a while, he slowly got up into his bed and lay under the covers, just wanting to sleep and escape for a little while. He shut his eyes, but after about an hour of not being able to sleep, he got up and went into his bathroom. He grabbed a bottle of Advil PM, took two pills, then fell back into his bed. Within a half an hour, he was fast asleep.


	25. One More Problem

Kazama arrived at Border the next morning, exhausted from a lack of sleep. After learning Tachikawa's interrogation was being put off until the next morning, he went home to get some sleep. While he didn't have trouble sleeping, he got home fairly late and had to wake up early that morning to arrive right as Border opened; he didn't want to miss the interrogation, even if he wasn't the one conducting it.

He walked toward the interrogation room and stood outside the window, seeing Kei who appeared as smug as ever. To his surprise, the man didn't appear the slightest bit concerned or annoyed with his situation which gave Soya a bad vibe.

The sound of footsteps pulled Kazama from his thoughts, and he turned to see Shinoda and Kuga coming toward him. Shinoda nodded in greeting.

"Good to see you agent," he said. "I didn't get the chance to tell you yet, but thank you for your hard work in catching Tachikawa."

Kazama shook his head. "Don't thank me; it was a team effort."

"Well, despite that, you put in a lot of effort," Shinoda replied. He then glanced toward Tachikawa. "I'm going to be leading this interrogation, and Kuga is here to tell if he is lying or not. Hopefully, we get everything we need out of him; if not, we can change up our techniques."

Soya nodded. "Good luck," he said, and Shinoda entered the room.

Kuga opened his mouth to say something but stopped as the sound of footsteps could be heard again. This time, Miwa came into view, nodding at the two.

"Did I miss anything?" he asked, moving to stand next to Kazama.

He shook his head. "It's just starting now," he replied. "Shinoda brought Kuga to ensure he isn't being lied to."

Yuma raised his hand in greeting, and Kazama noticed Shuji make a not so grateful face. On a normal day, Soya probably would have chuckled, but he had too much tension built up inside him to even bother. He turned again to face the glass, watching as Shinoda made some small talk before diving into the conversation.

"There's several things I want to know, and I will find out the answers. Understood?" the commander said to Tachikawa who smiled smugly.

"Of course Shinoda," he replied. "Anything for you."

Ignoring the sarcasm, Shinoda continued on. "The first thing I want to know is why you teamed up with neighbors to destroy Border and put other agents in danger."

Kei leaned back as if showing how comfortable he was in the room. Kazama frowned, getting the feeling that something was terribly wrong about this situation.

"To be honest," he started in a casual tone. "I just wanted to take over so I could control the city." He threw up his hands in a shrugging motion. "Obviously, that didn't work out the way I wanted it too."

"He's not lying," Kuga said, speaking to Shinoda through an earpiece, and Kazama noticed Masafumi give a small nod.

"I'm confused as to how this plan of yours was going to work," Shinoda said, equally as casual. "Sure, you could have caused much more destruction, but did you think that was going to suddenly provide you with the chance to sweep in and take control?"

"In a nutshell," Tachikawa replied with a shrug and an easy smile. "Of course, the plan was a bit more complicated than that, but things changed when you guys got a hold of my partners and figured out the plan."

"Were there deaths involved in your plan?" Shinoda asked, his eyes narrowing a bit.

Kei laughed. "I mean, it was unavoidable," he replied simply. "But don't worry - I was going to keep deaths at a minimum."

"Everything he's said so far is the truth," Kuga said, and Kazama turned to look at him as Shinoda asked another question.

"Don't you think it's a bit strange he's telling us everything we ask of him?" Soya asked.

Kuga kept his gaze on Kei, his face revealing he wasn't comfortable with what was happening as well. "Yeah, but there's something he's still hiding. But from the way he's acting, I'm almost positive he's going to bring it up at some point."

Shinoda asked a few more questions, and Kei responded truthfully, as expected. Kazama glanced at Kuga again, and the teen looked very concerned.

"Shinoda, he's wasting your time," he said quickly and intensely, and Kazama could tell he was trying to keep the alarm out of his voice. "He's trying to keep you talking, so he's either covering something up or has something planned and is trying to keep us occupied."

Soya stiffened as everything suddenly made complete sense - that's why Tachikawa was acting so confident and at ease.

Shinoda frowned and narrowed his eyes, putting his complete focus on Kei as he leaned forward on the table.

"Alright Tachikawa," he started slowly, "now that we're done with all this chit-chat, let's cut to the chase. What are you trying to cover up by keeping me talking so much?"

Kei froze for a moment, not expecting to be caught so quickly. However, he soon laughed it off. "Ah, Shinoda," he said in a teasing tone, "you're rather clever, aren't you? Either it's you or whoever is out there watching this interrogation which I know that at least Kuga is out there."

He laughed yet again and leaned back into his chair. "Fine, you caught me, so I guess I have to tell you. Although, by this point, I don't think you'll be able to find it in time."

Kazama stiffened and noticed both Miwa and Kuga do the same.

"Find what in time?" Shinoda asked rather calmly, but Soya could tell he was doing all he could to maintain his calm facade in front of Tachikawa.

Kei smirked. "Oh, you see, I may or may not have planted a bomb somewhere inside of this building," he replied easily.

Kazama's eyes widened as he tried to dismiss Tachikawa's statement. However, from the look on Kuga's face, it was apparent the man wasn't lying.

"And by may," Kei continued, leaning forward to grin at Shinoda, "I mean there is definitely a bomb in here, and it's set to go off pretty soon."


	26. How to Defuse a Bomb

"I'm really sorry, Kikuchihara," Kazama said again, "I didn't think anything was going to happen that would require me to call you in."

The teen rolled his eyes as they continued walking down the corridor. "Kazama-san, I was going to come here regardless of whether you called me or not," he replied easily. "Now, it's probably best if we split up so we can find this thing before it's too late."

Soya nodded. "People have already been split up and searching the building, but you should probably try and get through as many places as possible; with your hearing, it's more likely you will find it before others do."

Shiro gave a curt nod. "Okay, I'll send out an announcement if I find it first." And with that, he turned the corner, leaving Kazama to continue his search.

Kikuchihara tried to keep his mind blank as he tuned his ears into his surroundings. Finding this bomb would require the utmost focus on his part, so he didn't have time to think of other frivolous things. He moved as quickly as he could while making sure he had listened to all possible places the device could have hidden, and soon enough, he had covered almost the entire first floor.

With increasing anxiety, the brunette moved up the stairs to the second floor, hoping he found something on this floor - if it wasn't on the first or second floor, it didn't seem likely to be on the third floor. The bomb would cause more destruction the lower you got, and if it was on the second floor, he would have more time to find it anyways. If it was higher than the second floor, sure, it might cause less destruction, but there was more of a chance no one would find it in time.

He began moving through the floor and was becoming increasingly frustrated the closer he got to completing the sweep of the floor. However, when he was about to finish the second floor and go to the top, he paused, hearing something unusual.

 _It's in the ceiling a few steps in front of me,_ he said to himself as he moved a few steps forward and looked directly above him.

Yes, it was definitely hidden above there.

"Kido, the bomb is on the second floor hidden in the ceiling near the far break room," Shiro said, speaking quickly into his earpiece. "Send some specialists here, now."

The commander's reply was almost immediate. "People will be there momentarily. Stand by agent."

The teen nodded, even though Kido couldn't actually see him, and within moments, several people rushed into the hallway.

"It's right above my head," Shiro said and moved out of the way as someone placed a ladder underneath a ceiling tile adjacent to the one the bomb was placed above. Carefully, one of the bomb specialists climbed the ladder and removed the bomb, slowly descending back down the stairs.

Two other bomb specialists came over and began analyzing the bomb, looking for the right wires to cut in order to stop the device from exploding. Kikuchihara watched intently, and to him, it looked like they were having difficulty figuring out which wire was the correct one to cut. The scene was looking increasingly tense, and a pang of worry went through his chest.

"Let me see," he said, cutting through two of the specialists. They looked at him as if he were crazy, and Shiro simply shook his head in response. "I may not know much about these things, but if you pull or move some of the wires, I can listen to see if they are connected to whatever will make that thing blow."

The three specialists looked at each other warily but soon caved in. "Okay," one of them said, moving closer to the teen. "I'll move it as much as I can without disturbing the device too much. Tell us when you believe we have the right one."

Kikuchihara nodded, and the man began moving wires around. There were only five to test, so Shiro let him move all five before thinking it over.

"The fourth one you moved, the red one, sounded distinctly different from the rest," he said slowly. "It didn't sound as if it was connected to anything. Again, I'm not the expert, but I think if one wire sounds completely different from the rest, that's probably a sign that's the one you're looking for."

The specialists looked at each other, indecision clear on their faces. "It was that one and the black one we were deciding between," he replied, his brow furrowing with concentration. "And you're sure the red one was completely different?"

"Of course I'm sure," Shiro said, biting his tongue to keep from saying something rude.

The man nodded, and he looked to the other two specialists. "You should probably exit the building, just in case," he said to the teen.

Shiro hesitated, then he shook his head. "Sorry, but I'm the one who told you what to pull. If it is a mistake, I'm not going to run from what I did."

The man opened his mouth to reply, but another shook his head. "We don't have time," he said tensely. "Besides, he's an agent here; I think he's capable of making decisions for himself."

The first guy hesitated a moment longer before finally agreeing. He grabbed a small pair of scissors and held them over the red wire.

"I'm cutting in three, two…"

And on one, he cut the wire, bracing himself for something to happen. Even Shiro closed his eyes; however, much to everyone's surprise, the beeping stopped. Slowly, Kikuchihara opened his eyes to see the bomb had been deactivated on time.

He let out a small sigh of relief and turned on his earpiece while the others cheered on their success.

"Commander, the bomb has been deactivated. Everything is all good."

"Thank you agent. I want one more final sweep done before we declare this building safe, then we can call it a day," was the almost immediate reply.

The teen nodded, a wave of exhaustion suddenly sweeping over him. "Understood, I'll start right away."


	27. Normal

Things mostly returned to normal with the passing of several days. Of course, everyone was still on edge as if expecting some surprise attack to hit them, but nothing came. Tachikawa's plan had truly failed; he had no other tricks to play, and now he was paying for his actions by being placed in prison.

Miwa was taking a break from team training when he saw Kikuchihara walking down the hallway. He slowly jogged up to him, hoping to just catch up. He hadn't seen the teen since before Kei was captured, and he felt as if there were things they needed to discuss.

"Hey, Kikuchihara," he said, and the teen turned to look at him with a neutral expression. "Do you have a second?"

Shiro didn't respond for several moments, and Shuji was afraid he was going to decline the offer. However, much to his surprise, the brunette shrugged and gave a nod.

"Sure, I have some time," he replied nonchalantly.

"I just wanted to see how you were holding up," Miwa said as the two continued walking around with no particular destination in mind. "We never really had the chance to talk about anything, so I just wanted to make sure everything was okay."

Again, Shiro took several moments to reply, but Miwa waited patiently for him to respond.

"I'm fine now," he said with another shrug. "It was just weird at first because I had gotten over their deaths a while ago, and it just felt like a wound being reopened again. But I'm fine now." Miwa gave him a disbelieving look, and Kikuchihara scowled. "Seriously, stop worrying. I was just shocked at first, but I'm over it. I promise."

Shuji stared at him for several more moments before turning away and accepting his answer. The kid was tough after all, so if he really was over it, it wouldn't surprise him.

"And everything else is okay?" Miwa asked.

Kikuchihara scowled again. "Miwa, I liked you better when you didn't care about others so much."

Shuji allowed himself a small smile, and Shiro continued on after seeing Shuji's reaction. "Everything is fine. Now, don't you have work to do?"

Miwa shook his head in mock disbelief. "Alright, I'll leave you alone. But if you ever need someone to talk to, even if it's not me, just please talk to someone, okay?"

The brunette looked away. "Yeah, yeah, I will."

And despite how disinterested he sounded, Miwa knew he was actually telling the truth. He nodded. "Thank you. I'll let you go now. It was nice catching up with you, Kikuchihara."

The brunette nodded back. "Thanks."

And with that, the two went their separate ways to head back to work, finally feeling as if things were, for the most part, back to normal.


End file.
